


the orange island chronicles

by HimeBeat



Series: But It's Profound to Be Understood [6]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Adventure, Domestic Fluff, Domesticity, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, Intimacy, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Smut, The Author Regrets Nothing, They're In Love Your Honor, but while we're at it, sexual-intimacy, this is how I fall from grace, this is it, well now I've done it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:34:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 88,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27553906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HimeBeat/pseuds/HimeBeat
Summary: It's six (ten) weeks on the road. Six (ten) weeks of back-to-back adventure. Of camping, training and Pokémon catching. Of mystery-solving and ticking off the boxes of what could very well be a never ending list of wonders.With Ash by his side, Goh finds he doesn't mind the weeks away from home. With Ash by his side, Goh finds he is always home.-Ch. 9/9. Complete.
Relationships: Gou | Goh/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Series: But It's Profound to Be Understood [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1743232
Comments: 51
Kudos: 99
Collections: Firstfriend/Journeyshipping





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Why hello, thank you for joining us.
> 
> I am well aware of the rating I've given this story, and I am well aware of the reasons why I have given it this rating. Two things, as we gear up to begin: 
> 
> 1\. I loathe cheaply written smut scenes, and I will do my absolute best to make the e-rated parts of this collection as tasteful as possible.  
> 2\. It's not PWP! I promise there's a plot, there's adventure and all the good stuff we love to see with these two boys.
> 
> The naughty bits are not your cup of tea? np! I'll let you know of the cues where it's sfw again. The fic can mostly stand alone without those scenes, and you're more than invited to read along the, ehem, *cleaner* parts (I'd be most grateful!)
> 
> On this first chapter, it’s all E-rated all the way to “We can take the first few days to settle down” (there's a scene break, you won't miss it). It's mostly safe from there on.
> 
> And well, without further ado, I present you: The Orange Island Chronicles 🎩

_[March 9th, 7:34 - Vermillion City]_

Ash is ambushed the moment he crosses the front door, shoes barely off, hat still on but rapidly falling onto the genkan’s floor with the impact of being pushed into the wall, he doesn’t even register it, because suddenly there are furious lips falling over his - unprepared - ones with abandon, strong hands pinning his wrists.

Pikachu runs off. To the guest room, Ash presumes, though he’s mostly preoccupied with understanding exactly what the hell he’s just walked into.

“Mm - Hi,” He manages to say, over a brief break for air. “Good morning?”

“Indeed,” Agrees Goh, quickly joining their mouths again, tongue prodding at Ash’s lips, demanding entrance.

_Indeed._

Goh is still clad in his pajamas (One of Ash’s shirts, this time, and a black pair of sweatpants), hair untied and bed-tousled.

His blue eyes are wide awake, however, full of promise and sultry invitations.

He’s perfect. Always perfect, to Ash.

This is certainly an interesting development, when not two-minutes ago he was just idly thinking of taking a shower after his and Pikachu’s morning run. It was fairly early, and Goh was probably just getting up. Maybe they could make some breakfast, have a quiet morning before their flight later that day…

But this - whatever _this_ is - is most welcomed, and he’s more than inclined to see it through.

“I’m all sweaty and gross, baby,” He tries to argue, when he feels Goh’s hands begin to lift the hem of his sweatshirt, ready to take it off.

He’s not protesting the wandering hands creeping up his waist, _definitely not._ But maybe is something they can do after he’s -   
  
“Don’t care,” dismisses Goh with a mewl, mouth breathing hotly against Ash’s own, “just - I need you.” If it’s a plea or a demand, Ash can’t be sure. Coming from Goh, it somehow manages to be _both._

And, _wow,_ he really does. As he presses closer to Ash, he lets him feel his erection, fingertips pressing to the trainer’s taunt stomach, whose muscles instinctively tightening under the touch. Goh ruts his hips a couple of times into Ash’s upper thigh. He’s aiming for sensual, but with how on edge he feels the action comes out more as desperate. Ash doesn’t seem to care much either way.

Goh swallows his boyfriend’s responding moan, mouth unrelenting, and Ash’s words are mumbled and breathless when he attempts a weak and unnecessary, “You’ve got me.”

It’s not as if Goh isn’t taking exactly what he wants.

“Bedroom?”

Goh shakes his head, “Here - right here.”

And he doesn’t say much else, but he _does_ drop to his knees, and makes quick work of taking Ash’s jogging pants and briefs off, pulling them down until they pool on the floor, along with the now discarded sweatshirt and the forgotten hat. His thumbs press forcefully into the skin of Ash’s hipbones, and he licks his lips in anticipation as he reveals the trainer’s fast raising erection.

“Goh,” Whimpers Ash, overwhelmed and flushed to the tips of his ears. His hips thrust forward instinctively, but he’s held by the hands still there.

“Not yet,” Murmurs Goh, mostly to himself. He has a plan, and this part should last a little longer.

He nuzzles the trainer’s navel, bites the skin on his lower abdomen. Ash’s skin is warm, it’s _always_ warm, but right now particularly so, drops of sweat holding onto him from the run, rapidly drying into the skin. Goh laps at them greedily, making Ash hiss when sharp little canines graze his abs. It’s pleasurable, if a little frustrating, since he wishes Goh’s mouth would move lower already.

“I woke up and I was all alone, you know,” Complains the blue-eyed man, lips now trailing a lazy path of tiny kisses from one hip jut to the other.

It takes Ash a second to register the sentence, Goh is _right there,_ so close to where he wants him, where he needs him, right now, and he’s _talking._

_Why is he still talking? Wasn’t he the eager one?_

“Um, sorry? I thought you wanted to sleep in…” Goh pouts at this, hand coming out to take a hold of the trainer’s now fully hardened length.

It’s a loose hold, the movements painfully slow, his fisted hand teasing up and down, thumbing at the head and spreading the liquid beginning to cumulate there.

Ash whines helplessly. Entirely at Goh’s inexistent mercy.

“So considerate,” He says, some teasing in his tone. “But … I’d rather wake up with you,” He murmurs. And if Ash was going to reply, it dies on his lips the moment Goh’s mouth envelops him.

His head hits the wall again, a loud thud resonating, his hands pushing into Goh’s shoulder to keep from falling. His legs don’t feel very trustworthy at the moment, but thankfully one of his boyfriend’s hands reposition on his hip, steady and _strong._ Ash feels himself relax some, enough to let himself enjoy it.

Goh bobs his head a few times, just around the head, still lazy and still _too slow,_ his other hand still wrapped around the base, covering the bit his mouth hasn’t reached yet.

It earns him a few more desperate sounds from the trainer’s mouth. But it’s not enough for Ash, he knows. It’s not enough for him, either.

He leans back a bit, looking up so their eyes meet, same pouty expression from a moment ago on his face. Like he’s genuinely upset Ash had left. Like he’s expecting the trainer to make up for his wrongdoing.

Well, he kind of is.

But Ash reckons he’s got about fifteen seconds before he comes if Goh keeps looking at him _that way,_ on his knees, and with that mischievous glint of _fucking-terrible-intentions_ around his lust-blown-blue-eyes.

“You know what to do,” He invites, and Ash’s body does this thing where it fucking _jolts_ in pleasure and anticipation. He gives a shaky nod in response, even though Goh won’t see him, too busy taking him back into his mouth as far as he will go.

Slowly, _torturous._

Ash swats his shoulder for being _such a tease_ and, if he could, Goh would’ve chuckled. He pinches the trainer’s hip instead, which earns him another pitiful whimper.

Once Ash is certain Goh is ready- and won’t choke with his movement -he begins to thrust his hips forward. He starts with as much a controlled pace as he can manage, mostly just so he doesn’t come right away, partially also to ensure he doesn’t hurt Goh.

Goh doesn’t much care for his consideration, however, and he _groans_ around Ash’s length, hands pulling him in hard by the back of his thighs. He splutters a little, but recovers quickly, willing his jaw to relax even further. Ash’s eyes widen in surprise at the sudden strength, closing a split of a second later in pleasure because, _holy fuck, that feels good._

And, all right, if that’s how it’s gonna be.

He thrusts his hips again, more confidently this time. _Harder,_ the way he know Goh likes it, the way he wants it - _needs it -_ right now. It’s not long before he picks up a rhythm. A hand comes up from his shoulder to the back of his head, pulling every now and again. It doesn’t get him off the way it does with Ash, but it’s a welcome sensation nonetheless. His other hand travels up, all the way to the side of Goh’s face, where he can trace the outline of his cock as it moves inside his mouth, in and out, the other man’s low moans vibrating through his body.

“Goh.” _There it is,_ thinks the aforementioned, the voice that makes shivers go down his spine, makes him want to please Ash’s every wish, the voice he’s been waiting to hear all morning. “Fuck. _Look at you,_ you’re - you are…” He’s interrupted by his own moan, pace fastening unconsciously, becoming more erratic with every thrust.

 _Perfect._ Is what he usually says. And it’s often the last line he can muster before completely losing it. Goh feels quite accomplished for making him forget an entire word this time around.

He looks up then, daring, devilish glint shining on his eyes, and Ash, almost _gone_ in his pleasure, looks down and meets his gaze with blown-wide brown orbs, mouth panting.

He regrets it a moment later, though.

The picture is too much. Glassy blue eyes bore into his, tears prickling at the corners from the effort, hair a mess and falling to the sides of his face. His mouth - impossibly widened and taking him in to the brim - has saliva dripping down his chin. Cheeks flushed crimson. The hint of sweat on his brow.

And he still has the audacity to look _innocent. The bastard,_ as if he hadn’t assaulted Ash three steps into the room.

The grip on his hips, the tender thumbs tracing every now and again. The _noises,_ little mewls and wet sounds coming from Goh, even when his mouth is so _fucking full_ it’s a wonder he can even _breathe._

All of that, topped with the sensation of _heat_ all around, his body ablaze from the pleasure, his brain fried. And the blue eyes he had hoped would ground him offer nothing but an incessant plea to _let go. Come on, let me see you let go. I want it._

And, well, Ash lives for Goh’s every wish. Besides, hard as he tries, he’s already done for.

He whines, pitifully, desperate, and weakly tries to push Goh away, warning, “Baby, baby, I’m gonna - _ahh,_ I - ”

 _Yeah,_ Goh knows. And he _really wants it._ He begins to bob his head again when Ash’s pace becomes too erratic, meeting him halfway and eventually taking over, his own pace merciless.

Ash babbles uselessly above him, voice still deep, but clumsy and too far gone to make any sense. He goes quiet when he comes, though, with a broken groan and a gasp of Goh’s name, who first feels the warm liquid hit the back of his throat, and then explode in the rest of his mouth, thick and familiar.

He allows them both a second to get it together. Allows himself to enjoy the taste he woke up craving, swallowing down expertly, eyes closed in concentration and savoring.

For the moment, he does his best to ignore the throbbing situation in his sweatpants. Though it proves most difficult when he can taste Ash’s own pleasure quite literally in his tongue.

He leans back to sit on his heels, sure that Ash can stand on his own and won’t just noodle down the wall. He takes another second to admire his partner’s flushed and sweaty face, mouth open and breathless.

_Absolutely beautiful. His._

Satisfied with his deed, Goh darts a hand up to clean the come and dribble off his chin, but is stopped when Ash’s hand grabs onto his wrist.

Blue-eyes cast up again, curious, thinking that maybe he is about to say something.

Ash’s wits aren’t there yet, as it turns out, but he has just about enough brain-and-muscle power to pull at the held wrist, forcing Goh’s to stand, dragging him into his body, smashing their mouths together as soon as their faces are close enough.

Goh hisses into the kiss when his neglected erection rubs with Ash’s naked hip, tongue hardly able to respond to Ash’s, that is licking into his mouth so he can taste himself.

It’s kinda lewd. Goh kinda loves it.

They pull back when the air runs out, which is unsurprisingly quick, considering Ash is still riding the last bits of his orgasm, and Goh is feeling increasingly desperate for his own.

Ash doesn’t let go of his grip, a possessive arm wrapped around Goh’s middle as he drops his head to rest his forehead on his boy’s shoulder. His other hand comes up to Goh’s face, and he wipes away the messy fluids there with a rough hand, spreading some on his cheek.

Goh breaths in, trying to still himself, which is hard to accomplish when Ash is being so damn seductive.

Chucking darkly, and tilting his head sideways to look up to whatever he can catch of his boyfriend’s face - mostly his jaw, a bit of his cheek, and plump, swollen, _sinful_ lips -, Ash’s voice is a little broken when he speaks, as if _he’d_ been the one with the cock in his mouth. “You are the _worst,”_ He states.

Goh’s breathy laughter turns into a whimper when Ash nips at his neck, unapologetic. “You?” Questions the trainer, loosening his hold, and moving the hand down Goh’s waistline to his pajama sweatpants.

“You need a shower.” Is Goh’s only reply, voice turned to gravel. He’s trembling with desire, but decided to see his plan through.

Ash blinks.

Why, _yes,_ he definitely does _now._ But he’s not leaving his boyfriend like this. He’s already waited more than enough.

“Um - let me take care of you first,” He offers, palming Goh over his clothes. Goh gasps at the touch, but pulls away. He shakes his head and uses what remains of his debilitating willpower to keep from just rutting to completion into Ash’s warm thigh.

He has a _plan,_ damn it.

“ _In the shower,”_ He explains, grabbing Ash’s hand, attempting to pull him down the hallway.

But Ash pulls back and twirls him around, until they are face to face again. His hands quickly slide down the researcher’s ass with practiced ease, kneading the muscle but not teasing, knowing how desperate Goh feels already. He reaches the back of his boyfriend’s thighs, and it takes but a brief squeeze for Goh to get the hint.

A moment later he’s launching into the trainer’s arms, head ducking into Ash’s neck with another hiss that is part-pleasure, part-pained discomfort as his erection meets Ash’s strong torso.

Fuck. He might not make it to the promised land of their shower, after all.

“Let me take care of you,” Repeats Ash, with a demanding lilt this time. And Goh’s entire vocabulary is once again reduced to _yes, whatever you want._

Stumbling and clumsy, mouths glued together, Ash makes the twenty steps to the bathroom.

-0-

“We can take the first few days to settle down,” Says Goh, Ash’s fingers tracing the line up his neck, ticking behind his ear. “Stop that,” He squirms.

Ash doesn’t stop.

“I think we should get on the road as soon as we unpack,” He suggests. Goh rolls his eyes, because, _of course._

“That’s not - we’re going to be too tired, Ash, it’s not just going a few towns over. Besides, there’s the - _ouch!”_ He yelps, moving away from the trainer’s offending hands.

“Ah, Sorry! I’m sorry, baby. You had a knot.” He pouts, closing up again and resuming his chore, face scrunching funnily in concentration as he tries to be more careful.

“Can’t be helped,” Sighs Goh, knowing Ash is being as diligent as possible. “It’s gotten too long,” He laments. Maybe he should’ve gotten a haircut before all this.

“I like it,” Declares Ash, sweetly, dropping a kiss to the researcher’s soapy shoulder. “I guess you’re right.” He says next, returning to their conversation, and pushing Goh under the spray of the shower.

He goes easily, closing his eyes when the suds from the shampoo begin to travel down his face. Goh loves being right, so he smirks in self-satisfaction to Ash’s admission.

Ash pokes his tongue out in reply to the grin, even though Goh won’t see him.

He taps Goh’s arm a few times, to which the other man responds by taking a few steps back, until he’s stopped by the trainer’s hand on his waist, “like this,” instructs Ash, his words slurred by the water falling now down his face as well.

Showering together is something they indulge in often, having discovered early on that, while it requires a serious degree of carefulness (which they learnt the hard way, and Ash has the scar and foggy memories of a mild concussion to prove it), it’s also loads of fun.

 _It saves water,_ had said Ash, the first time he suggested they try it.

 _Debatable,_ thinks Goh now. Because there’s no way fifteen minutes under the spray are good for water conservation, when it would be under five minutes if they were showering alone. (They recycle, he hopes that somewhat makes up for the environmental footprint).

The researcher wouldn’t give up on their joint showers for anything. Ash is _doting,_ and takes onto the task of washing Goh’s hair and body with absolute dedication. It’s a different way of making love, if Goh were to ponder on it. Not hurried and desperate, as he’d been half an hour ago. Rather, it’s tender, and Ash shows no intentions behind his actions other than to, quite literally, _take care_ of Goh, make sure he is comfortable, whispering soft things to him, and making sure he knows just how loved he truly is.

Tentatively, Goh opens his left eye, and is met up-close with Ash’s right cheek-mark. He reaches out a hand to caress it, leaning forward for a watered-down kiss.

It’s chaste and playful, all previous urgency gone now that Ash has so very kindly done as promised and taken the _best_ care of him.

His body tingles pleasurably at the fresh remembrance of fingers opening him up, delicate, slippery and _good,_ Ash’s other hand securely wrapped around his length, both moving in tandem on a single mission to have Goh pass out with bliss.

He succeeds. And for a good two minutes Goh’s entire world is reduced to the limited space of their shower, to Ash’s arms holding him upright, his comforting words slowly bringing him back, _so good, baby, there you go. Perfect, so perfect. You were really desperate, hm? But you did so good for me, I’m so proud._ It was whispered right into his ear, but it still felt distant and faded, hearing momentarily despaired, as it’s often consequence of a mind-blowing orgasm.

He won’t be forgetting this morning anytime soon. Neither will Ash. He won’t forget their living room now, nor their shower. And that’s exactly what Goh had wanted. Good memories.

But now they’re finally at that stage of the shower where the goal is to actually _get clean._ And even this part Goh enjoys a lot, because Ash doesn’t really draw a line between types of intimacy, he’s learned, and it’s almost the same for him to whisper praises into his ear as he’s getting him off, as it is to drop ridiculous and tender kisses to his shoulders, offering to wash his hair, sweet and devoted.

Goh bubble bursts when he hears the faint noises of something falling somewhere in the apartment. The Pokémon, probably, there’s quite a few extra obstacles in their way this morning, bags scattered around the place as they’ve been putting them together over the last week.

Which, by the way -

“Have you finished packing yet?” He asks suddenly, eyes narrowing as he tries to remember if he’d actually seen the trainer’s luggage anywhere the day before.

Ash’s eyes widen in alarm, and he smiles nervously before having them kiss again, more persistent, in a pointless attempt of distraction, which pretty much confirms Goh’s growing suspicion that _no, he hasn’t._

Still, that feels rather nice, the lips down his neckline, and the slippery hands wandering down his…oh, _oh, yeah._ Maybe the reprimanding Ash can wait a little longer.

-0-

_[March 9th, 10:55 - Vermillion City]_

“What is taking him so long?” Moans Ash, frustrated. Pikachu makes a shrugging motion, Cinderace rolls its eyes, annoyed. “Goh, come one! We have to leave now!” He calls again, getting, as expected, no response from his partner.

They really do have to leave soon, if they want to make it to their flight on time, which, _they do_. But Goh insisted in checking every room of their apartment, and make sure everything was turned off, that nothing was left out of place. Ash could understand this, they were all reasonable concerns. What he couldn’t get was why Goh felt the need to do so _thrice._

_Turned off all the lights?, yeah. Disconnected all appliances?, yes, Goh. You made the bed?, you did that!, ah, yeah, right. Did you check the office? because…., yes, yes, it’s done, and all of our plants are with Chloe, all of them?, all of them. All right, I think that’s it, then…_

But he’d still gone back and revised the entire list over, because he could be exasperating like that, and Ash, Pikachu, and Cinderace were still waiting for him, fifteen minutes later, at the front-door of their frankly-not-that-large apartment, there’s no reason why he should be taking s _o long -_

“Okay, I’m ready,” Says the blue-eyed man, finally joining their party.

Ash glares at him pointedly, and makes an exaggerated motion with his arms, inviting him to go ahead.

Goh’s entire aura feels… _wrong,_ to put it mildly. But Ash can’t read the reason why as easily as he picks up on the troubled colors around him.

“What’s the matter with you? It’s not like we’re leaving forever,” He questions, as the elevator takes them the three floors down to the ground-floor.

Go shrugs, his tone a little discouraged when he speaks, “I know, but it’s the first time we leave for so long since we moved and… this is our home now, isn’t it? It feels weird going away like this, knowing we won’t be back in a week or two…”

Ash considers. It is true that this will be the longest trip to date, but the Orange Islands have been the hardest to tackle in the entire list, and short weeklong ventures simply aren’t cutting it.

Besides, it’s not like they are _tied_ to Vermillion, part of their job is precisely _this_ , being flexible, able to move around - and across - regions as required.

But he can see where Go is coming from, they have been home-based in the city for over a year now, and their small two-bedroom apartment, minutes away from the Institute has become the perfect place to rest in between journeys. But it’s also a great place to just… _be._

They had been so excited when they first found it, eager to begin a new adventure, finally together again.

Goh had been searching for places in the city weeks prior to moving back, but the listing for their apartment had come out a mere week before Ash returned from the island. A notification - not different from the hundreds Goh’d been tracking on his phone for days on end - came out for a two bedroom, two bathroom in an old _ish_ apartment complex.

“This is only a few blocks from the Lab!” Commented Ash, scanning the listing with the link Goh had sent him. “We should totally check it out!”

“Mm, we can go next week. Um, if you’re not too tired from the trip…” Ash shook his head, already on board with the idea.

“Of course not. Can we get an appointment for next Tuesday? Ah, I wanted to have lunch with you first, I think we should arrive right around noon…”

It had been… three months, since they’d last seen each other? Ash’s Kanto trials felt like a distant memory now, with Goh’s birthday, the holidays, and the very end of their respective projects crammed together in those twelve weeks, fast and busy but also impossibly eternal, with them counting down the minutes for the day the waiting would be over. For the day they got to start anew in Vermillion City, together again.

And now that day was a mere week away.

But for all the eagerness, Goh felt a hint of anxiety ebb in him as well. The weight of the responsibility all these changes would bring heaving on him.

Is not that he thought Ash and him wouldn’t be able to pull through this new stage of their lives. He was sure they’d be just fine, it’s just - it was a _lot._

Starting a new job, reincorporating in a large city, finding a place to live. There would be bills to pay and groceries to shop for and, oh, Arceus, someone would have to cook. Did they know how to do that? Goh could fend for himself when it came to quick meals in the middle of expeditions, but there had always been ready, mouth-watering delicious foods at the Aether Foundation, and he’d always had a room ready to crash after missions, tidy and just perfect for him and Cinderace.

But it wouldn’t be just him and Cinderace anymore.

That was so exciting. That was so terrifying.

“You know what we should do?” The signal was breaking, and Ash’s voice sounded a bit robotic, but Goh still understood him just fine. He prompted his boyfriend on with a shake of the head. “We should check out the places around that apartment! Maybe we’ll find a super good restaurant that we can go to all the time!” The apartment wasn’t theirs yet. They didn’t even know if they would like it (though it was eerily perfect for them), but of course Ash was already this excited, because he didn’t overthink things the way Goh did.

Ash was jumping into this the same way he would with any other adventure. Overeager and head-first, the small stuff they could figure out later.

“That’s a good idea,” He conceded, “we can have lunch around there. I’ll try to schedule our appointment for the afternoon.”

They found an amazing curry place two-blocks down the apartment complex. It became an instant favorite.

And the apartment… the apartment was _perfect,_ it’s as if it had been _made_ for them.

It wasn’t large, but it was just the right size so they wound’t feel cramped. The kitchen and the living room shared an open space, welcoming, with a large window facing the neighborhood that let plenty of natural light in. _I’ve always wanted to have plants, like mama does! All this sunlight will be great for them_.

If only for that comment, Goh decided they would be taking the place.

The guest bathroom had a shower, and the ensuite in the master bedroom had a tub, which was the best of both worlds, in Ash’s opinion.

The rooms were on the smaller side, but it’s not like they had a lot of stuff anyways, and they could use the closet as storage space if needed. The smallest room could fit some of Goh’s lab equipment and computers, and they could put a sofa-bed in the corner in case someone came to visit.

Pokémon were - of course - welcome, and there was even a garden in the back area for them to play and do light training. It was the fourth floor of a twenty-year old building, and most of their neighbors had been there for a long time. Mainly older couples, and a few people who lived alone and worked in the city.

There was a trainer in the third floor, with whom Ash struck an instant friendship in the elevator, _we’ll battle!_ He’d promised.

And they did, Ash winning almost without breaking a sweat. Now he and Elliot met every other weekend to train together.

Miraculously, the place was also within their budget, so there were no devastating crushed hopes when the agent told them about rent and security deposits. They’d been saving for almost a year, and they’d be making decent money working with Professor Cerise.

Goh had been able to breathe a little easier after that day because, _yeah,_ they could do this, they _were_ doing this, on their own this time.

Besides, this was the boy - now _man -_ Goh had been sharing his adventures with since he was twelve, if there was anyone he trusted to do life with, it was Ash.

The two bedroom, two bathroom in the fourth floor of that twenty-year old building in Vermillion City was the place where that started.

And now they are leaving it. _Not forever,_ he knows. And still, he just feels like he would rather not leave _at all._

Cinderace tilts its head curiously across him in the taxi, and its piercing gaze is what snaps Goh out of his wander. He offers an apologetic look to his companion, waving a not-so-reassuring hand in dismissal. Cinderace doesn’t buy it, of course, but doesn’t press, either, and Goh is thankful for that.

They aren’t even at the airport yet, and Goh can already feel the beginning of home-sickness bubbling inside him, upsetting and uncomfortable. Ash apparently none-the-wiser to his distress, talking about all the things they’re looking forward to do once they make it to Tangelo Island.

_-0-_

_[March 9th, 15:52 - Tangelo Island]_

“How do you like it?” Asks the trainer, his voice closing up as he walks down the stairs and into the living room.

_Down the stairs, because this place is so large it takes two entire floors, apparently._

Goh has temporarily set camp in the living room. The impressive and large couch turned out to be comfortable, and not just fancy-looking. They’re not fully unpacked yet, but it’s not like it matters, they’ll be on the road in a few days anyway.

Right now, he needs to check last week’s data and turn in into a report, and send it to Professor Cerise and - and do whatever he can to distract himself from the nagging irritation at the back of his head, that has taken over him ever since he realized this trip was happening and there was no escaping it anymore.

Which was only four hours ago, when he took his seat on the plane and thought, _oh, shit, I guess we’re doing this, after all._

He shrugs in response to Ash’s question. “It’s nice. I like the balcony,” He offers, looking up to that spot briefly.

It _is_ nice, he sometimes wishes they had one of those at their place, though they do have that window-seat in the common room, and that’s just as nice.

This house is much, _much_ larger than their apartment. It’s got a guest room _and_ an office, and the master bedroom fits a whole lot more than a double bed and a few bedside tables. There’s a fenced backyard, but it’s empty aside from a few saddened bushes. The kitchen has spacious countertops, funny looking lamps, and a ridiculously large fridge. And there’s a dining room, too, which will most definitely go unused, unaccustomed as they are to having one.

There are many windows and spacious rooms and, objectively, Goh knows it’s wonderful, it’s a great house and they’re very lucky to have it as a home-base for the time they’ll be in the region.

But the shower is too large, and it doesn’t have a tub. And it’s feels _cold,_ even when he knows that’s unreasonable, for this is one of the warmest Islands in the archipelago, and Spring is in full bloom at the moment.

Vermillion is much colder this time of the year, and their apartment doesn’t have the latest or greatest heating system, so they always have to get creative with the blankets and hot beverages and… _activities_ that will help them keep warm.

Bud dammit, Goh misses the crappy heating system. He misses the window-seat. The tub and the sometimes claustrophobic rooms. And it’s hardly been two hours since the landing.

Ash sighs at the sight of his upset partner.

Goh’s demeanor has been on the gloomy since before they left the city that morning. The reasons for his attitude are unknown to Ash, and, though he’s been trying to give him some space (he trusts Goh will share when he’s ready), it’s begun to worry the trainer.

Maybe it’s best to change tactics, then.

Goh is back to being too focused on his laptop, so he doesn’t register Ash coming up to the couch, nor does he notice the arms that are suddenly wrapping around him, enveloping him from the side.

“A-Ash! Hey, what are you doing?!” Exclaims Goh, startled at the unexpected action, his laptop almost falling from where it’d been placed on his thighs.

“I know you’re sulking because you miss Vermillion…” Begins Ash, muffled against Goh’s shoulder. He lifts his head, brown meeting blue.

His eyes are so gentle, thinks Goh. Gentle and worried.

Of course Ash would notice something was off, how foolish of Goh.

“…But think of all the fun we’ll have here! We’ll see Tracy and Ritchie, and Ava! We haven’t seen them in a while! And the food is awesome, remember that sandwich spot we tried last time in Mikan Island? We can go there, too! We can go right now, if you want.”

Goh chuckles at that. It’s a whole island away, but of course Ash would suggest they go immediately, if that’s what it takes to lighten his mood.

Ash is wonderful like that.

“I’m sorry,” He says, in reply to Ash’s rant. “I know you’re excited to see your friends.” He knows, because the trainer hasn’t shut up about it for the last month. Goh isn’t particularly close with any of them, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t share his partner’s excitement. Ash being happy is always welcomed. “I’m sorry I’m being such a downer.”

Ash’s lips dart out in a pout. An apology is not what he’d been looking for. “I mean, I get that you miss the city.” Though he doesn’t quite get where all the moodiness is coming from this time, when they’re used to traveling every other week, to regions much farther than the Orange Archipelago.

Goh shakes his head, “That’s not it.”

“No? Then, what is it? You’ve been acting kind of sad since before we left the apartment,” He notes.

Goh looks up to him and offers him a smile, trying to soothe away his worries. But it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and all it accomplishes is to worry Ash even more.

“It’s not Vermillion I miss. Well, I _do_ miss the city, sure, but it’s not that I hate it here or anything, it’s just…”

“It’s just…?”

Goh shakes his head again, the feeling too abstract, too hard to explain, even if he had the words.

“Don’t you - isn’t it the same for you? Aren’t you upset that we’ll be away for so long? Vermillion is our home now. Don’t you… miss our place?” That upsets him a bit. Because, surely Ash would be missing their home as well, right? He, too, feels somewhat attached to their apartment. It’s gotta be special for him as well. Right? “I - I really like it there. And it’s hard to be away from home like that.”

Ash gives him a quizzical look, still at a loss of what the issue really is.

He gaps a few times, finally asking a much confused, “What do you mean?”

Right. Maybe Goh had been wrong. “Ash…” He sighs, not exactly in the mood to explain things slowly to his partner. “Don’t you miss our home?”

Ash shakes his head this time, still looking like he doesn’t understand. Before Goh can reply, the trainer beats him to the next sentence, rushed sincerity spilling from his lips, in a way Goh shouldn’t be surprised by, but still, after all these years, manages to catch him off-guard. Impossibly, his words manage to make him fall in love even _deeper._

“But…Goh… isn’t this home, too?” He begins, pout intensifying “I just - I guess for me it’s just...you’re here. Pikachu and Cinderace are here. And we’ve brought a bunch of our Pokémon with us as well and I - I feel at home? I have all of you. That’s enough to make it a home.” He says it easily, but his eyes squint at Goh a moment later, studying him. “It’s that…not enough for you?” The words are hesitant, and feel wrong to even think about.

Up until this moment, he’d been convinced they shared a vision on this.

Goh just blinks back at him.

It exasperates him a little, how Ash sometimes makes these declarations so nonchalantly, as if he were giving an uneventful news report, while Goh’s brain goes on literal overdrive from emotion and the sudden wave - more like a fucking _tsunami -_ of adoration he has for this incorrigible idiot.

Ash is _right,_ he is so painstakingly right. And Goh feels like a jerk for not having realized sooner, for nor understanding.

Of course. _Of course._

Is not that Ash doesn’t feel connected to their apartment, or that he doesn’t recognize it as their special place.

To Ash, anywhere with Goh - with _him! -_ it’s that special place. It’s where he wants to be.

“You idiot,” He rasps. Ash’s eyes widen at the words, unsure of what he’d said wrong. But Goh doesn’t give him a chance to question it, instead jumping on him. Both of them fall back on the couch, Goh’s head to Ash’s chest, the trainer’s back to the couch with his head resting halfway on the armrest.

“I love you,” Breathes the researcher, soft and vulnerable.

He’ll say more in a minute, he’ll explain himself, he’ll spill out his worries and Ash will soothe them away and it will be fine again. Because there’s really nothing much to worry about.

But right now, right _this moment,_ he just needs to be held. As he’s come to expect, Ash understands.

The trainer nods in response, one of his hands coming up to the top of Goh’s head, pressing him further into his chest, tightening the awkward embrace they’ve found themselves in (He’ll reposition them in a minute, when the wheels turning on Goh’s head stop reeling so loudly).

“Me too,” He says eventually, when Goh’s breathing has paced some, and he feels the angsty tension begin to leave his body. The colors around him turning little brighter already. “I love you, too.” He promises.

Goh knows. It’s nice to hear it anyways.

-0-

_[March 9th, 21:45 - Tangelo Island]_

Goh drops on top of him on the bed, his full weight pinning Ash down and making him grunt at the pressure, but it’s a welcome sensation, and the trainer is used to it, so he doesn’t complain, especially when Goh begins to trail soft kisses to the back and side of his neck.

“Hm - what do you think?” He asks, showing the tablet’s screen to the researcher, who stops his ministrations to look at the information.

“Is that the best possible route?” It doesn’t seem like it, there are too many turns for it to be reasonable.

“Well… _no,_ but it’s the one that would take us through the most locations,” Explains Ash. “It’s a lot of camping, but it would guarantee we cover most of the list in one trip.” Which is exactly what Goh wants, Ash knows that, and, even if this isn’t the most practical of itineraries, it would have them in Vermillion sooner than later.

It’s still about six weeks on the road, though.

Goh hums and nods his head, but doesn’t approve or reject the map Ash has shown him.

He doesn’t really care for the route, if he’s being honest. Six weeks, or the original nine projected. Hell, it could be a full season in the Orange Islands, and he finds now, _he wouldn’t mind._

He knows he’s been acting out since before they arrived but, after Ash’s words that afternoon, his perspective on this entire trip has changed.

He’s looking forward to it, actually. He understands now why his partner hadn’t been affected by it. Why he shouldn’t be, either.

This is an adventure, after all. Yet another one they get to share. There are mysteries to unravel and fascinating discoveries to make, and he gets to take upon all of them with his best friend by his side.

There is no way in which this is a bad thing. And he’s not going to let some home-sickness (which isn’t even there anymore) ruin another moment of their journey.

Decided, he smiles into one of Ash’s shoulder blades, and begins to kiss the skin there, teeth grazing playfully every so often.

A good thing about this region? The nights are warm, and Ash hasn’t bothered wearing a t-shirt to bed, his tan skin delicious and exposed for him to do as he pleased.

“Mm - h-hey, at least let me know if it’s okay,” Requests the trainer. Goh’s attentions rapidly clouding his thoughts.

“Yeah,” Breaths Goh, not even looking at the screen a second time. Instead, he darts a a finger to Ash’s jaw, turning his face so they can kiss. “It’s perfect.” He replies, blue eyes moving to the trainer’s lips, a millisecond before their mouths clash together.

Not much more planning gets done that night.

-0-

_[March 10th, 8:30 - Tangelo Island]_

They’ve overslept, Goh doesn’t need to check his phone to know that they’ve overslept (Ash has turned off the alarm on its first ring, cursing its very existence and ordering the inanimate object to _keep quiet._ It mostly works, but only because Goh takes his phone back and makes sure it’s actually off, and not just on _‘snooze’_ ).

It’s been at least an hour since.

The room is still too large, the window is far and away from the bed, and has been left ajar on purpose so the air can come in during the night.

But even so, it’s _warm._ The sheets are kicked to their feet, their bodies sticky with dried sweat where they are pressed together (Ash is a furnace anyway, no matter where they are).

It’s too warm. It’s too warm and it’s uncomfortable, but Goh can’t bring himself to push Ash away, not with his body tightly wrapped around him, soft puffs of air hitting the back of Goh’s neck. _Warm._

His sleepy grumbles are adorable, though, with bits of his dreams making it into the real world through his surprised exclamations and occasional twitches. A palm opening over Goh’s stomach, a knee jerking forward, hitting the back of Goh’s own, foot pressing into the researcher’s calve. It’s all unconscious, and not forceful enough to hurt. Besides, Goh is used to it by now and, instead of annoying him, it makes him feel an odd fondness. A pang of belonging at the thought that he gets to enjoy this type of intimacy, too. He gets to experience Ash like this. A privilege no one else has. _His._

As long as he has this, Goh knows he’s home.

They’ve overslept, and even though they are not expected at the Professor’s Lab until the early afternoon, they should consider getting up and start the day by doing some recon, get to know the town better.

Ash will want to train, and Goh has been working on an index of the Pokémon he has yet to catch in this region, it can’t hurt to get started on that personal goal.

“We should - ”

“ _No.”_

_Of course._

_“_ Breakfast?” Tries Goh again. It’s usually the best way to get Ash up and running.

The champion considers, his hum long and vibrant to the back of Goh’s neck. Ticklish, but he’s too trapped in Ash’s arms - and, admittedly, too sleepy still - to attempt an escape. “Can we have pancakes?”

“I don’t know,” Replies Goh. They’d gotten a fully stocked pantry and fridge (courtesy of Professor Cerise’s sponsorship of this trip), but he doesn’t know if the ingredients for ‘pancakes’ are included.“I’ll have to check.” Is what he concludes.

Ash grumbles against his nape, unsatisfied with the answer, and buries further into the warmth between them.

 _Too warm,_ thinks Goh again, not understanding how Ash isn’t mortified at the incessant heat.

He probably doesn’t even notice it.

“Come on. Ash. Hey, hey…” It’s no use. Is Pikachu nearby?

“The other room,” Answers a yawning Ash. Goh frowns, until he realizes he’s, once again, mused his question out loud. “You do that a lot,” Comments his partner.

He does. He does and he sometimes worries something will inadvertently slip out, one of these days. Some major secret or important bit of information that wasn’t meant to be heard.

“That’d be funny,” Says Ash to his concern. Goh doesn’t think so, but he’ll worry about it later.

They’ve overslept. They need to get up. He needs to wrestle out of this large bed and -

“ _No._ ” Whines Ash again, tightening his arms around Goh’s middle, “You’re warm,” He offers, as an explanation to the question Goh didn’t make.

“It’s _too warm.”_ Complains Goh, finally. But Ash pays him no mind.

“We’re on a tropical island,” Retorts the champion, eloquently.

Goh can’t help the snicker that escapes his lips. He doesn’t know if the sleep clinging to their minds is to fault, or if they are really just this dumb all the time, and he blatantly ignores it on the daily.

Either way, he turns into Ash’s arms so they can face each other, and kisses the still closed eyelids and the tip of his nose, the trainer smiling sunnily, basking in the attention.

“We need to get up,” He says to Ash’s forehead, lips pressed there, too.

Ash pouts, and scrunches his face at the words. Which are all good signs, actually, they mean Ash has understood the message, and should now begrudgingly begin to stir awake for good, his arms will stretch over his head and he will -

Ah, yes. He will drape himself entirely over Goh. Crushing and _warm._

“ _Too warm,”_ Bleats Goh again, pushing him away.

To no avail, because Ash is stronger, and when he clings he’s downright impossible to shake off.

He drops his customary kiss to Goh’s cheek, whispers a soft and sweet _good morning, baby_ into his ear, and leans back to sit on the bed with a warm smile. The kind of warmth Goh doesn’t mind. The kind he can’t get enough of.

Surprisingly, Ash is the first one to get out of bed, still stretching his body awake as he sits on the edge. He fishes for something on the ground.

A shirt. _Goh’s shirt._

“That’s my shirt,” He points out, rubbing his eyes, willing the stubborn sleep away.

Ash shrugs, “So?” It’s not like they don’t live in each other’s clothes as it is. Besides, this shirt he had taken _off_ Goh the night before, he won’t be wearing it today.

Goh shrugs back, it doesn’t matter, really, but he doesn’t have anything of Ash’s (or his) nearby to wear, and he doesn’t want to be naked while making breakfast. That would be dangerous, especially with how clumsy they can get in the kitchen.

“So, _nothing_ , but I still need a shirt,” He finally replies. Ash huffs, humorous, and fishes his black t-shirt from where he’d left it the night before, unceremoniously thrown over the couch in the room.

“Here,” He offers, handing it to Goh. He takes advantage of the proximity to press a kiss to his forehead, the smacking sound loud in the quiet of the morning. He pats a hand to Goh’s exposed thigh, prompting him on. “C’mon, I’m hungry!”

Goh rolls his eyes, muttering a sarcastic _what a surprise_ under his breath, Ash already out of the room and on his way to the kitchen.

He trails after him a moment later, before he can break something in the large and lavish kitchen.

There will be recon, and meeting Professor Ivy, there will be finding the nearest Pokémon Center, and making sure they have all their passes for the first leg of their journey in a few days.

There will be Ash’s morning training, and Goh finding out he’s got about twenty-three Pokémon left to catch in this region. Most of them should be on the way of their drafted route, and the researcher has an inkling that Ash’s carefully crafted itinerary had kept this in mind, as well.

There will be breakfast, and the Pokémon waiting for them hopped on the countertops, quietly demanding food.

There will be Ash _not-so-quietly_ demanding to be fed as well. And there will be Goh making breakfast, Ash whisking eggs and pikachu using more sugar than necessary in the pancake mix.

There will be coffee-bitter-yet-somehow-sweet-kisses, and terrible dancing to the first radio station they find.

There will be adventure, surely awaiting beyond the large doors of the large house that now, too, feels like it could be home.

And so, like this, the chronicles of the Orange Islands begin.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My laptop is haunted, and I don't have a phone right now. I'm posting this by sheer divinity and because of my love this story (and to you). It should all be fixed within the next week though so fingers crossed the chapter won't be this embarrassingly late next Saturday. 
> 
> Thank you for tuning in! If you're trying to skip the naughty bits I'd recommend you stop reading around the mark for [March 16th, 21:37, Pinkan Island, Rangers Cabin], you can retake it around “We’re going to catch a cold." - towards the very end of the chapter.

[ _March 16th, 8:07, Pinkan Island, Poké-Fi Café]_

“Mm, put some more of that sauce on mine, please?” Requests the trainer, subtly nuzzling the skin behind Goh’s ear.

The researcher nods, and leans back into his boyfriend’s embrace. He’s been in a funny mood all morning.

Ash is effortlessly affectionate all the time, so it doesn’t really startle Goh too much. But today - the word isn’t _clingy,_ exactly. He’s not hanging off Goh’s neck. Though he does come pretty damn close.

Ash only gets like that in two types of occasions:

  1. They haven’t seen each other in well over twelve weeks. In which case it’s understandable, because the distance will make you instinctively more attached to your significant other. You don’t want to waste a minute spent by their side.
  2. It’s the morning after one of those unforgettable, out-of-this-world sleepless nights, where they feed each other pleasure for hours on end, inhibitions and limitations flown out of the window. The nights when everything moves at a slower pace, and it’s like time stops for them to savor every second, every caress, and every press of skin.



This time is neither. Fortunately not the first one, and _regrettably_ not the second one.

They haven’t had much time for physical intimacy over the past week, - other than a quick hand-job exchange in the shower the other day, which was _good,_ but rushed and hushed and, rather than satisfying, had only left them wanting _more -_ but they’ve made good progress on the list. Two quests are down, and Goh has even captured that Kabuto he’s been chasing for ages.

It comes with a price, though, as they’ve been too tired at the end of each day, and have been waking up at dawn in order to make it through the packed agenda. There’s not a lot of idle time to spend fooling around.

It shouldn’t matter, as they still spend every day together. _Working,_ sure, but together.

It shouldn’t matter, but strangely enough, Goh finds himself _missing_ Ash. Their downtime together, Ash’s hands combing his hair as they lay on the couch, and Goh reads Pokémon lore out-loud. The late afternoon walks where they go to that high-point where you can oversee the entire city. Making dinner together, where Goh cooks and Ash chops ingredients in flowery shapes.

As the reality sinks in, that this particular trip won’t be over next weekend, Goh begins to realize just how much he misses these little things. How he’d grown so used to them in the year they’ve had together.

But he’s made the decision of _not_ letting his home-sickness ruin this journey. And these longing thoughts aren’t exactly taking him down the right path.

They’ll figure it out. They always do.

“What’s gotten into you?” He asks to Ash, a little amused by the way the trainer is following-him around like a lost Lillipup.

“I was hoping _you_ would, to be honest.” Confesses Ash, with a degree of innocence he has no right to use.

Promptly, Goh blushes crimson. And suddenly he is very aware of the hand on his hip, and of the lips that just whispered those words straight into his ear. He’s aware of every inch of Ash’s tall body standing beside him.

In the middle of this crowded cafe at _eight in the morning._

“Ash!” He chastises, “You can’t say things like that!” He hisses, the nearest patron is two tables down the buffet line, but he feels the need to keep it down regardless.

Ash pouts, “Why not?” He keens, “It’s the truth! Besides, you asked!”

Goh rolls his eyes, unimpressed with the comeback. “It’s too early for this.” He decides, and turns with his and Ash’s sandwiches towards their table, where the Pokémon have been munching down a plate of fruit for the last ten minutes.

“Oh? There’s a schedule now? Should I make an appointment?” Teases Ash, catching up with him easily, several cups of coffee, juice, and yogurt on his tray.

“That’s not - _of course_ _not…- agh._ Shut up.” He’s going to sit at a different table, that’s what he’s going to do. He’s taking them Pokémon with him, he threatens.

Ash drops the conversation. But not his advances, and Goh spends most of breakfast mortified at his stupid, shameless partner, who places a hand on his thigh and just…keeps it there. Idle and calm, as he chats animately about the plans for the day.

_I can’t wait to see all those pink Pokémon! Do you think we’ll see any pink Pikachu? That’d be really cool, right, buddy? Ah, and Officer Jenny gave us all the coordinates, so it should be easy to get into the far-ends of the forest. I wonder if Ritchie’s already been researching the Pinkan trees, I think he mentioned something about…_

_“_ Ritchie?” Interrupts Goh, catching the last part of Ash’s near-monologue. “He’s here?”

Ash turns in his seat next to him, the hand leaves his thigh and he immediately misses it. There’s an eyebrow raise that tells Goh he’d been informed of this already.

“I _did_ tell you he’d be in the Archipelago at the same time as us, remember?” There’s over twenty islands in this region. The odds of them being on the same one, at the same time are…low.

But not impossible, it seems.

“Right.” He replies, shortly and mechanic. “And when are we meeting him, exactly?”

Ash gives him another funny look, then sighs before answering. “In the forest, in a few hours. I told him we could get dinner together back at the Ranger’s area.”

“Tonight?” He could’ve sworn they would be camping in the forest that night. Isn’t that what the itinerary said?

“Did you forget this entire conversation?” Baffles Ash, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

Goh shakes his head. It’s more like he _muted_ the conversation when Ash began talking about Ritchie. Some things still unhealed about the entire ordeal with him.

“I thought we’d be camping tonight.” Is what Goh says instead, because eight thirty in the morning over breakfast is not the time to unpack his memories of Ash, Ritchie, and the events of three years prior.

Ash nods, picking up on his tension, “I, um, made a small change to the plan? We can go to the forest and back in town by nightfall, it’s not that far. Officer Jenny offered us one of the cabins, remember? We should take advantage of it.”

“Hm? What for?” They can sleep practically anywhere. Though he will take a bed above a sleeping mat anytime. No complaints there.

Ash doesn’t reply. Not verbally, at least. But his hand returns to Goh’s thigh with newfound interest, and he ill-disguises a smirk behind a cough.

It tells Goh everything he needs to know. And when his eyes meet Ash’s over the brim of his coffee-mug, he delivers an equally quiet, but just as powerful promise in response.

-0-

_[March 16th, 13:18, Pinkan Island, Pinkan Forest]_

Ritchie _has been_ researching Pinkan trees, and he’s eager to share his knowledge with them.

There seems to be something in the Pinkan berries seeds that tempers with the pigmentation of the fruit, which in turn has a reaction over the Pokémon’s systems, and, overtime, it seems as though they’d evolved to naturalize the enzyme into their bodies and DNA, which would explain why even the babies are born pink these days.

It’s a theory still, but it’s solid enough that’s it’s caught Goh’s interest. And he finds himself talking to Ritchie with unusual ease. As long as the topics involve pink fruits. Or pink Pokémon. Pink _anything._

He doesn’t ask about Ritchie’s journeys up until now, and Ritchie doesn’t volunteer him more information than strictly necessary. Cinderace, Pikachu and Sparky seem to get along just fine, and they entertain themselves chasing _pink_ Diglett around the cleaning of the forest they’re in. Ash has gone off to photograph a Pidgey nest high up in a tree, and for some agonizing minutes, it’s just the two of them, and the drying fruit they’ve chosen as the only safe conversation topic.

“Will he be fine up there?” Asks Ritchie, referring to Ash, with a hint of concern on his voice.

Goh isn’t really worried. Ash spends an alarming amount of time climbing trees, and his success rate in coming down is of ninety-percent, give or take a few scrapes and minor bleeding.

“He will.” Replies the researcher, unfazed.

“But - ”

“He’s _fine,”_ Cuts Goh, “He knows what he’s doing.”

Ritchie nods, positively chided, and mutters a weak, _yeah, I guess you would know._

Goh pretends he doesn’t hear it, and asks again about why Ritchie believes the Nidoran react different from the Nidoking depending on which side of the island they’re on. And why is the acidity of the fruits different, when they are all meant to be the same type of tree?

Ash had ran into Ritchie’s arms the moment they found each other in the forest. Goh wishes he could be less dramatic in his recollection, but the fact is, Ash _had_ ran to Ritchie, and the other trainer had been waiting for him with open arms and a smile. So it’s not like Goh was exaggerating.

 _Well,_ Ash ran towards Ritchie, and hugged him back for a good five (felt like ten) seconds, patting his back and exclaiming how good it was to see him. Petting an eager Sparky on his shoulder and greeting him, too.

But he wasn’t making up the spark in the auburn’s eyes, nor the way his hands lingered a second too long on _his_ boyfriend’s shoulders.

More conservatively, and doing everything in his power not to upset-Ash with a misplaced demonstration of possessiveness, Goh held up a hand in greeting, noting how it’d been a minute since they’d last seen each other.

An understatement, since it’s been well over four years.

Ever-polite, Ritchie offered him a kind smile and a sincere, _it has, but it’s real nice to see you again._

That was good. They could be civil to each other. For the sake of the time they’d spend together. And for Ash, who couldn’t stand the idea of two people in his life for whom he cared about not getting along.

Goh isn’t the resentful type. He’s never been. He forgives easy and believes in people’s good intentions most of the time. He knows people make mistake sometimes, and that these aren’t a direct reflection on who they are as a person. Sometimes you just slip. It happens. They’re only human.

Besides, he knows Ritchie is a _good_ person. Remarkable, even. Well educated and level-headed, kind, generous and smart. Super smart. _Did you know he once saved us from a strained elevator? So smart!_

_He built like, the coolest hut in Fortree City. You should see it! I’ll send you pictures! I think we’re moving to Dewford Town next? But only for a few days, Ritch’s gotta train for his next gym in two weeks…_

_And then, boom! Zippo used dragon claw on the Sceptile, it was so amazing! Ritch’s so good in battle, he’s definitely going to win the league this year…_

Ritchie was good people. Well educated and level-headed. Which is why it had hurt so much more when he learned of what he’d done. Because it hadn’t been just some mindless impulse, some reaction in the midst of a moment. No. He’d thought about it. Reasoned all the pros and the cons. And then he’d gone ahead and done it anyways.

_I gotta tell you something, and I know you’re gonna be upset. But, please, hear me all the way till the end, all right? Please…_

He’s never gotten Ritchie’s version of it. Doesn’t need it. Doesn’t want it. He wouldn’t know what to do with the information, and that makes him angry. Try as he might, he can’t bring himself to just _forget about it,_ to let it go as he believes he can do with most trespasses of his trust. Mistakes he can forgive. But _this._

It had been Ash’s trust that had been crossed that time, more so than Goh’s own. And maybe it’s got something to do with that, too. Goh doesn’t know. Doesn’t _want to know._ He always shuts the door too quickly when he lands on these memories.

Ritchie is right in front of him right now, talking about pink fruit as if it holds the answers to all the world’s questions.

Goh has one question, that only Ritchie can answer.

But he doesn’t ask. Instead he lets the other-blue-eyed man fool them into a sense of normalcy, blanketed by pink fruits, pink Pokémon, and Ash’s distant crows of joy - or distress? - at his standoff with the Pidgey nest.

-0-

_[March 16th, 16:23, Pinkan Island, Pinkan Forest]_

“I’m hungry!” Moans the trainer, pouting for what feels like hundred time in the last hour.

Ritchie smiles sympathetically. Goh rolls his eyes and huffs, mildly annoyed at his partner’s antics.

“We heard you the first ten times.” He says, sounding more patient than he feels. “You ate the last of the snacks already.” He reminds, and Ash’s pout intensifies. Goh pats his cheek a few times, as if trying to reason with a difficult child. “Why don’t you eat some of the fruit?” He suggests.

They’re bringing back some of it with them, at Goh’s insistence of studying the seeds in more detail back at the Rangers’ labs. He’ll save some to take to Professor Ivy’s lab later in the week. If their theories are right, they will have made an important discovery regarding Pokémon evolution in response to their environment.

It’s another item to tick off the list. So that’s a win all around, Goh thinks.

Ash takes upon his words, and is about to eagerly bite into one of the berries when, with a solemn and serious voice, Ritchie says,

“Just remember you’ll turn pink after eating it.”

Wide brown eyes look up, fruit juice dripping down his chin, fear written all over his features.

Ritchie’s blue-eyes turn over to Goh, lips pressed in a thin line to try and keep it together. He winks to the researcher and, not a second later, they’re both doubling down with laughter, Ash’s mortified cries fueling the hilarity.

To make amends, Goh takes a few bites off the berry himself, demonstrating there’s no harm to be done. And he holds Ash’s fruit-sticky hand in his own the rest of the way back.

Ritchie watches from a few steps behind, and he longs.

-0-

_[March 16th, 19:47, Pinkan Island, Rangers Area]_

Normally, Goh would react more bashfully to Ash’s public affections. He doesn’t ever reject him, but he does try to set some boundaries as to what is, eh… _appropriate,_ with an audience present.

Tonight, however, he’s being refreshingly indulgent. Encouraging, even. And he convinces himself it’s got everything to do with the way Ash has been over him most of the day, demanding kisses and attention, and it’s _not at all_ related to Ritchie, who is sitting across the table from them and still acting impressively composed, even as Ash wraps an arm around Goh’s shoulders and offers him spoonfuls of ice cream.

It’s probably both. Because Ash’s needy mood didn’t wear off after breakfast and, _yeah, okay,_ he’s being a bit of a possessive jerk, given the company.

If Ash notices the change, he doesn’t mention it, and the entire evening responds _deliciously_ to each of Goh’s small - and perhaps not so subtle - actions.

He full-body shivers when Goh runs a cool finger down his arm, as he asks him to choose a table for them. Blushes prettily when the researcher rubs at the corner of his mouth, to wipe off a smidge of curry that has gotten stuck there. Gasps to halt a moan when Goh- _purposely -_ whispers into his ear that he’d like some ice cream for dessert, could Ash _please_ get some for him? He feels a little warm.

Funny, that. So does Ash.

To his credit, Ritchie doesn’t wince or even blinks at their shameless PDA. He sits through dinner with polished grace, and keeps the conversation going for everyone at the table, not looking even a bit put out by the flirting.

He _does_ take the earliest chance he gets to flee, however. And that’s enough for Goh to realize that, _yes, indeed, he’s been affected by it._

“Well, that certainly was enough for a day,” He says, arms stretching overhead on a yawn. Sparky quickly jumping back on his shoulder, after they leave the restaurant. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He’s staying in one of the cabins as well, the one nearest to the labs area. And they’re meeting there in the morning to go back into the forest, reaching the deepest end this time.

Goh tries not to think of the idea of sharing a camp with Ritchie, and fiercely bats away every thought of what happened last time him and Ash spent a night under some random forest in the Hoenn region.

Three years ago.

When they’d been traveling together.

When Goh had been away.

“Goodnight, Ritch,” Says Ash, sweet as always.

“Night.” Parrots Goh, an arm secured to Ash’s waist, who is holding Pikachu with both of his, sleeping in a self-induced food-coma. “Thanks for the help today.” Ritchie smiles at his words.

 _Civil._ That much they can do.

They say some last departure pleasantries, and go their separate ways, to their separate sleeping areas.

Goh leaves with Ash by his side.

That’s a given every night, these days. But tonight - _tonight_ it feels like a rare, unique privilege he’s never quite appreciated before.

Ash sleeps by his side. Laughs at his jokes. Eats the food Goh prepares for them. Ash kisses him and holds his hand and whispers dumb things to his ear. Ash looks after Goh’s Pokémon as if they were his own.

Ash wears Goh’s _name_ around his neck. _Proudly_. And, still, right now, Goh feels as though none of that is enough. Like Ash doesn’t belong with him - _to him -_ enough.

He needs to do something about that. Immediately.

_-0-_

_[March 16th, 21:37, Pinkan Island, Rangers Cabin]_

They’re hardly past the threshold of their room when Goh is onto him. They’ve only just arrived, but the air in the space feels heavy, all the little twitches and caresses of the night cumulate and shine behind Ash’s brown eyes, large and pleading.

For _him._

Goh kisses him then, both arms now wrapped around Ash’s middle, passionate and slow and when he leans back, he relishes in the thin line of saliva that connects them. Watches with amused, teasing blue eyes how Ash chases after his lips, and pouts when he realizes Goh is standing at full height, and out of reach.

He’s only got about an inch or two on the champion, and it’s seldom noticeable on their day-to-day. But, tonight, he plans to take advantage of every little thing he knows about Ash. About _them._ Together.

_Tonight, he -_

“ - Ash, Ash can I - _I need -_ ” _you, in every way I can have you._

 _“_ Yeah,” Is the reply, choked with emotion, thick into the tense air, “Yes. _Please._ ”

_Please, take me. Please remind me. Remind yourself. Where home is. Where I belong._

He walks them backwards to the bed, pushing Ash gently when the back of his knees hit the bottom of it. There’s a lamp on, somewhere in the room (Goh hasn’t bothered to check the space _at all._ It’s probably very pretty, but not prettier than Ash right now), and it casts a faint yellow light over his partner that makes him _glow._

Goh undresses him reverently, every shed layer accompanied with a caress, a soft press of lips to the a shoulder, a palm, a shin. Until Ash lays entirely naked and _trembling_ \- not from him being cold, is almost unbearably warm in the room - at his mercy. His haired is tousled and his cheeks are flushed, the tags atop his chest raising unevenly with his ragged breaths. His cock, red and angry (and begging to be touched) presses against his stomach, a healthy dribble of pre-come leaking into his lower-abs.

Goh wants to _consume him._ Listen to every broken moan and feel every shiver as an echo in his own skin.

So he does. And Ash, ethereal and devoted Ash, gives into him beautifully. _He’s so warm,_ thinks Goh, as he runs his tongue down the planes of his marked stomach, bites below his left nipple, runs hands up and down his ticklish calves. Slow, so that Ash can bask in every sensation. So that he’s gasping his name like a prayer.

He pumps his own dick a few times, to take the edge off, and doesn’t miss the way Ash’s eyes eat up the scene hungrily, how he licks his lips and his eyes cloud even further with desire.

There’s little resistance to his fingers, one at a time and covered in warmed up lube. Ash welcomes them with quiet moans and the incessant closing and opening of his fists, a mirror of his inner-muscles, that clench and unclench around Goh’s digits.

 _He’s going to be so tight,_ thinks Goh, as he adds a third, moving them carefully and precisely. Ash doesn’t bottom often, and the last thing he ever wants to do is hurt him.

“I’m good,” He babbles.

 _He’s wrecked,_ thinks Goh instead, not without feeling pride soar in his chest about getting him like this with just his fingers and caresses. “I’m good,” Repeats Ash, “I’m ready. Please, baby. _Please_.”

Yeah, okay. _Fuck._ Goh is ready, too.

“Turn on your stomach,” He requests, taking his fingers out. Slowly, so Ash can feel just how full he was, so he pouts cutely and impotent at the loss.

Through his dazed state, Ash manages a small protesting frown. “But -”

“Shh,” He soothes, leaning down to kiss his pouting lips. “Do as I say.”

Ash complies. He’s halfway through turning when Goh loses his patience and pushes him the rest of the way, The champion whimpers at the abruptness, and hisses at the sensation of his cock hitting the bedsheets. They’re soft, and offer much-awaited friction. He considers rutting into them, desperate as he is, but he has a feeling Goh wouldn’t appreciate that.

There’s a gentle tap to the side of his thigh, and then guiding hands help lean his hips back, until they’re up in the air, knees bent, and only his upper-body is still resting on the bed.

Ash feels very, _very_ exposed in this position, somewhat vulnerable and _almost shy._

Until a sure hand grabs at his hair and pulls his head back, _hard._ He moans into the press of their mouths, his voice dropping low as the pleasure riles impossibly up. “ _Ouch,”_ He rasps, low chuckle a response to Goh’s own menacing smile.

Nah. _This is the safest place he knows._

“Sorry,” Says the blue-eyed-man, not a trace of remorse in his tone.

Goh leans back, and Ash protests the distance. He wants more kisses, he wants Goh to be all over him and - and every last thought in his brain shuts down because Goh is finally, _finally_ entering him, slowly, because he’s a damned tease, but also because that’s what seems to be the set pace tonight.

Slow yet intense. Heady and overwhelming. If Ash’s brain wasn’t high in pleasure chemicals right now, he would realize tonight has a special tilt to it.

Alas, he’s too far gone already. All he wants is to be gone for good.

Goh waits until he’s bottomed out to breath again. A warm cloud puffing in front of him. _Fuck, it’s hot._

He takes in the view, and keens low in his throat. Ash’s head is turned to the right, eyes closed in pleasure, his arms lay to his sides, useless and heavy. He’s breathing raggedly and his large, muscled back shines with a thin layer of sweat all the way down, to his butt-cheeks, that are spread and taking Goh in to the hilt.

This is all his. A view only for him to enjoy. Exclusive to his eyes. No-one else’s. Ever.

This champion, recognized across the world as one of the best ones in his generation, is on his knees in front of him. Has given Goh consent to do with him as he pleases.

_His._

A brown eye opens and fixes on him, eyebrow attempting a weak rise in much weaker defiance. _What the hell are you waiting for?_ He’s - probably - trying to say.

Nothing. Goh isn’t waiting any longer.

He _fucks._ Thrusting in and out with sure, smooth movements. As expected, Ash is unbearably tight around him, which is why he’d spent considerable time opening him up, and had used a generous amount of lube on himself before sinking home.

Still, damn it, _he’s tight._ Overwhelmingly so.

Goh finds himself tipping forward, draping his torso across Ash’s back, who welcomes him with a whimper and his head reaching up for a kiss.

It’s wet and messy and Goh doesn’t know whose saliva is it sliding down his chin, but he doesn’t care. He grabs each of Ash’s hands between his own and threads their fingers together, pressing harder into the mattress as he quickens his pace, without compromising the intensity of each thrust.

Below him, Ash has been reduced to needy sounds.

“Too much?” He checks, knowing it can be so, especially since it’s the first time in a while he’s in this position.

“ _Ngh_ -’s good - _Ah,_ ’m good,” Replies the champion, words a little blurred.

“You’re beautiful,” Corrects Goh, chest filling with adoration for the man giving himself to him.

It takes a few more thrusts and a creative twist of the angle, but he finally finds that little spot that has Ash trashing about in desperation, wordlessly begging for more. Goh gives him more. Kissing Ash’s nape, biting his shoulder, and licking the sweat pooled at his neck, all the while chanting a silent mantra of _mine, mine, mine, no-one else’s._

His filter must escape him again, or Ash might be reading his mind, because suddenly he’s breathing out broken assurances of _yours, all yours, baby. Forever yours. Only yours._

Well, that about does it for Goh.

He comes, pulsing long and hard inside Ash’s still impossibly tight heat, forehead pressing to the middle of his shoulder-blades, he bites the available skin to muffle his groan, and hears Ash release a cry of pleasure loud enough to hurt his vocal-chords. Not that he cares much at the moment.

A few moments later, Ash whines, fucked out and still hard, his hands pressing Goh’s where they’re still roped together atop their heads, a silent plea for release.

“I’ve got you,” Murmurs Goh, kissing the skin he’s just bitten. He pulls out carefully, making Ash groan in discomfort at the loss. “Shh, love. I’ve got you” He promises again, unthreading their hands and pushing Ash to lay on his back again.

Hazed eyes look up to him, brown turned black and fighting to stay open. Goh is back on top of him immediately, taking his aching cock in his hand with slow, methodic pumps. He kisses Ash’s debauched mouth, helps him calm down a little bit, takes him to the edge and holds him there for one more minute, right before he pushes him over, and into the abyss.

It takes but a few savvy twists of his wrist, his thumb pressing _just so_ at the head, combined with his other hand wrapping around Ash’s hair, and a few kisses to his temple. “Please come for me,” He commands, gently into Ash’s hair. Then he pulls, and Ash promptly comes into his hand, hips buckling up as he falls, most of his senses shut down and all he can feel is _Goh._ All he can feel is pleasure.

“There you go,” Coos Goh, raising the hand to his face, licking the soaked fingers into his mouth. He kisses Ash afterwards, but, gone as he is, he’s not able to kiss back much, lips slack and unresponsive against Goh’s.

If he could, Goh would come again from the sight alone. He kinda wishes he had a camera in handy, because Ash, utterly _wrecked_ underneath him it’s not something he ever wants to forget.

Ash shakes his head no when, some minutes later, Goh stops petting his hair and attempts to move away. “I need to clean us up,” He tries to explain. “Ash? It’s gonna be uncomfortable for you if we stay like this.” Another negative sound. Goh sighs. “I’ll be back in a second.”

 _How does he do it?_ Tries to remember Goh, When the researcher is the one clinging onto Ash for dear life. How does Ash usually get him to comply? There’s comforting words to his ear, and playful kisses to his neck, a promise of _more_ as soon as he’s done taking care of the mess. But when Goh tries these on Ash, all it gets him is for the other man to burry further into the embrace, strong arms wrapped around his shoulders like a vice.

“We’re going to catch a cold.” Says Goh then, in his matter-of-fact voice. “We’re sweaty and naked and the night’s going to be chilly, and we’re going to catch a cold. Is that what you want? To get sick?” Ash frowns, and shakes his head again. “Do you want _me_ to get sick?”

He’s released immediately at that, and, with a reproachful pout, Ash lets him get off the bed for only the strictly necessary after-care, until they are back to a semi-decent state. They’re still naked, but at least it’s under the sheets now, and they’re clean enough that there won’t be any sticky discomfort marring their sleep.

Ash demands more kisses, somewhat back to himself, but still needy beyond repair, taking in all of Goh’s attentions.

“I may have left some marks,” Says Goh after a while, wincing a little at the angry red spots on Ash’s neck.

The trainer sighs, sleepily. “That’s all right. I leave them on you all the time.”

“Visible ones,” He adds, tracing the line up Ash’s arm with one finger. When had he bitten into his bicep? Hadn’t that _hurt?_

Ash smiles at the worry in his voice. Silly Goh. “I’m yours to mark as you please,” He reassures, his voice a happy song as he drifts to sleep.

“Mine?” Murmurs Goh to himself.

He feels stupid. Because _he knows,_ he knows and he’s not the type to be insecure. Especially not about their relationship. He’s never had the slightest reason to doubt Ash’s feelings for him. Not even when there were thousands of miles between them.

But tonight, _today,_ he was reminded of just how fragile that certainty is.

Ah, but he was also reminded of just how strong they are. How deep their bond runs.

With the last thread of his energy, Ash finds Goh’s cheek with his hand. He pats it a few times, affectionately and clumsy, a sleepy mirror of Goh’s condescendence that afternoon. “Only yours.” He reminds.

Then he sleeps. Goh wrapped securely around his body, following him to unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goh is taller than Ash hc???? Uh,,,, hells yeah, sign me up.
> 
> I know you have questions. I have them, too. let's all find out together next weekend! in the meantime, I'd love to hear about what you think happened?? what will happen next?? what did you love?? what didn't you love?? how do y'all like your coffee?? any and every comment is loved and appreciated. Sorry I've replied to the ones this week so late, again, I'm having device-related issues :((( but I'm working on them!
> 
> I wish you a lovely rest of your weekend, and I hope to read you again soon x 
> 
> be safe x x


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! thank you so much for tuning in! I hope your Saturday has been bright! I'm happy to announce that all device related issues have been solved! So we are back on track for this and all future stories (if by an odd twist of fate you've seen my anipoke ep reactions on Tumblr - and like them -, those are back, too! I'm catching up this week!)
> 
> No cues for this episode, as there are no e-rated bits, only some very tame references to the previous day, as it picks up right after that one. I humbly invite you to read ahead:

_[March 17th, 7:40, Pinkan Island, Rangers Cabin]_

Ash looks at his reflection in the mirror, and thinks, _well, that ought to send a message, all right._

But he also looks at reflection and shivers at the remembrance of sheer pleasure, of being taken and loved in yet another way by the person he adores most. His body aches in all the right ways today, and when he closes his eyes, he can still feel Goh’s hands mapping his body, can _almost_ feel his lips and teeth laying waste on every bit of skin the could find.

When he _opens_ his eyes, Goh’s statements stare back at him, littered all over in less-than-subtle places.

There’s an angry bite mark on his left bicep that he’s got no recollection of receiving last night. Then again, he was pretty out of it, so he figures he’ll be finding these around his body for the next few days.

That’s all really hot, and he loves it when Goh goes a little rough on him. But it’s still… the reasons why make Ash feel uneasy.

He knows there’s still something holding Goh back when it comes to Ritchie. He understands, because if it’d been Goh the one in his position, Ash doesn’t think he would’ve been too gracious about it, either.

Hell, he would’ve probably been much, much worse.

But it’s been some years, and Ritchie and him are on the other side of things. Ash desperately wishes Goh would join them there, too.

He exits the bathroom and smiles at the image of his still sleeping partner, cozied up on Ash’s vacant side of the bed. Their alarm rang ten minutes ago, so Goh is going through that limbo state of sleep in which you bargain for a few more minutes, but are conscious enough to feel them ticking down.

“Baby? Hey, time to wake up.” He calls, coming to sit by Goh’s side on the bed, shaking his shoulder gently.

There’s no reply for a few beats, and then sleepy blue orbs begin to peek behind heavy lids. Ash’s smile is the first thing they see, and an equally welcoming expression overtakes Goh’s features.

“Morning.” Yawns the researcher, making grabby hands to Ash.

The trainer chuckles, taking Goh’s hands in his own, and leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead. “Good morning,” He whispers back, dropping a few more kisses to Goh’s hairline for good measure.

As he sits back, he sees Goh’s expression change from relaxed to regretful, as he studies the image in front of him. “Wow. Um, you should’ve stopped me,” He says, pointing at the reddening spots across Ash’s torso. “I should’ve been more careful, I - ”

“ _Hey,”_ interrupts the trainer, turning serious as well, but not without a lilt of playfulness, “Did it seem like I wasn’t enjoying it?” Goh’s eyes cast down, “I told you, I don’t mind. I _like them,_ really _.”_

The researcher blushes, his expression turning bashful. Ash scoffs, “What, you fucked my brains out last night, and today you’re being shy? _”_ He’s only teasing, but he might be onto something here, because Goh’s blush only intensifies, and he squeezes once, into their still joint hands between them. “Goh?”

“I - about last night…”

“Last night was _awesome,”_ Declares Ash, no room for questioning in his voice.

Goh smiles in agreement, but then sobers again. “Yeah, that… _yes._ It was.” Definitely worth repeating in the near future. And for the rest of their lives. “But what I mean is - I wasn’t, I _haven’t been…_ in a good, um, in a good headspace. Since we met with Ritchie.”

Ash hums.

Yeah, he kind of saw this one coming. “I get that.” Is what he replies. Goh’s wide blue eyes look back to him in a silent apology. “You’re still hung up on what happened a few years back, huh?”

Goh nods, there’s no point in denying it, because Ash will see right through him anyways. “Can you blame me?” He asks.

“I’m not.” Replies the trainer, his voice filled with understanding. “I was upset, too.”

Goh nods again. He remembers Ash’s words back then. Remembers how distressed he’d been, how out of his way he had gone to ensure Goh understood exactly what happened.

Love-drunk (and love-sick) Goh, at sixteen, had absolutely no reasons to doubt Ash’s words. Ash wouldn’t lie to him, and there was nothing to blame him for because it _hadn’t been_ _his fault._

Love-drunk (and thankfully no longer love-sick) Goh, at nineteen, still has absolutely no reason to doubt Ash’s words. And he believes him just as easily as he delivers a response to Goh’s worries right now.

“But he apologized,” Says Ash. “He apologized for _days,_ it was kind of a lot,” He chuckles, “and I could tell he meant it. I know what he did was wrong. _He knows_ that what he did was wrong. But he realized it immediately, and apologized.”

Goh hums, and Ash tries to be careful about his next words. “I know it’s not the same for you. You two weren’t close to begin with and this… didn’t help, but - but Ritchie and I, we’ve been friends for ages, Goh. And you don’t give up on your friends just because they make a mistake, right?”

Goh sighs and shakes his head. No, that’s not what they do. That’s not the Ash he knows and loves.

Still. “Do all of your friends jump on you and kiss you?” He blusters, bitterly.

Risking a smack to the head, Ash snickers, “It _has_ happened a few times. Even got me a boyfriend, the once.” He winks.

Goh frowns, “That was _different.”_ He growls.

“I know.”

“You practically _asked me_ to jump on you.”

“I know!”

“And you didn’t have a boyfriend back then!”

“ _I know!”_ Chants Ash again, deciding is best to shut Goh up with a kiss. So he does just that, and Goh weakly bangs his fists on his naked chest for a moment, before giving up and melting into the press, hands holding onto the broad shoulders instead.

They breathe into each other’s space when it’s over, foreheads pressed together.

Much calmer, Goh says, “I would’ve never done that if I’d known there was someone else you loved.”

“There is no one else I love.” Replies Ash immediately, brown eyes shining fiercely with his words.

 _And that’s a very nice thing to say,_ thinks Goh, _it definitely deserves another kiss._

“I’m not going to ask you do something you don’t want to, but…could you maybe give Ritchie a chance? He’s…”

“‘A great guy’, I know.” Interferes Goh, as he tries his hardest not to roll his eyes.

Ash chuckles, “No. Well, _yeah, he is_. but what I mean is: he’s really trying to prove to you that he’s sorry. And you two have a lot in common, Goh. I’m not saying you gotta be best friends, but… give him a chance, today?” Still unconvinced, the researcher sighs through his nose, and offers a hesitant nod. “For me?” Pleads Ash, pouting and batting his lashes in a way that _would be_ more convincing, if he weren’t distractingly half-naked, and covered in love-bites.

Goh _does_ roll his eyes at the gesture, but huffs his laughter and nods again, promising he’ll try - for _today -_ and see where it goes.

Ash seals the agreement with another kiss. _“Mm._ Come on, join me in a shower? We’ve still got some time.” Invites the champion, speaking against Goh’s lips, stealing one last kiss before standing up from the bed.

Goh nods again, easy smile back on his face when, suddenly, a thought strikes him. “You said a few times, before” He realizes, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Has someone else kissed you out of the blue?”

Ash’s eyes widen, and he runs into the step that connects with the ensuite, almost falling to the floor.“You’re the only one I ever kissed back!” It’s the nervous response, then he makes a run for the bathroom.

Well, at least…“Wait, _what_ \- Ash? Ash!”

-0-

_[March 17th, 12:49, Pinkan Island, Pinkan Forest]_

Goh makes an effort. Because he promised Ash, but also because he is curious. Ritchie is a great person, he knows that. Now he wants to find out _why._ And the only way he’s going to accomplish that is by giving the guy a chance.

They work on lunch together, while Ash sets up the impromptu day-camp area, they’re far enough that they will need to spend the night, as planned, but there’s still a few hours of usable daylight to work.

 _After lunch,_ demands Ash, who can only properly think on a full stomach. _Or so he argues, but give him an entrancing enough case and he’ll forget all about food for days._ Ritchie laughs good-humoredly at his half-complaints, and sides with Goh on the trifles they bicker about. That sure earns him some points.

“I was in Mandarin South some weeks ago.” Says Ritchie, over a bite of his sandwich. “Trovitopolis sure is nice.”

“Mm, we’ll be there for a day. But I think we are spending more time in Yambera-town?” Goh chastises him with a look for speaking with his mouth full and, after taking a swing of his water, Ash continues. “We’re headed to the uncharted side of the Island.”

Ritchie’s eyes narrow at that. A curious eyebrow raises. “The meteor showers in the dessert?” He questions.

Goh nods, “You know about those?”

For whatever reason, Ritchie blushes. “Hm, only a little. They’re rare, aren’t they? But I heard some theories that say they happen around this time of the year, when they happen at all. Didn’t see any activity when I was there, though.”

Goh seems a bit discouraged at that, but Ash pats his thigh with an easy smile. “Guess we’ll just have to try out luck, then.” He winks.

“Legend says the showers only happen on the years Cleffa are born.” Mentions Ritchie. He’d heard it from someone in a Mandarin Village.

“Professor Cerise believes that theory,” Says Goh, “Though there’s not enough evidence to support it. We’re hoping to find some more lore about it in the Island.”

Ritchie tells them of a few places to visit, and shares the names and contacts of some of the townsfolk he met that could help them.

Goh begins to understand why Ash likes him so much.

-0-

_[March 17th, 15:28, Pinkan Island, Pinkan Forest]_

Ash had been upset. He’d been so upset, in fact, that he’d roughly pushed Ritchie away, eyes wild with horror.

Then he ran away. Into a forest not so different from the one they were in today. Maybe with less pink trees. Definitely less pink Pokémon.

He ran, until he found a place secluded enough that he was sure Ritchie wouldn’t find him (thought he didn’t even know if he’d been followed).

He ran, until Pikachu - trailing right behind him - cried out for him to stop, too tired to keep following.

He ran as far as he could. And still, he felt no distance was enough to get away from what had just happened.

It was the late afternoon, and the Pokémon began tucking into their homes to rest for the night. Tiredly, Pikachu found a nearby tree-shade under which they could sit, cuddling next to its trainer, concerned and curious.

“Sorry if I scared you, buddy.” He’d been scared off himself. “Did you see what happened?” Pikachu nodded its head, extending a doubtful _pika-pi? Pika._ Ash nodded with a sad smile. “Yeah. Well you’re right, I’m only supposed to do that with Goh. I only _want to_ do that with Goh. What just happened was…strange.”

 _So fucking strange_. One minute they are talking about what they’d like for dinner, and the next one Ritchie is launching himself into Ash, lips pressing forcefully together and arms gripping tightly on his shoulders.

Ash didn’t know… he just didn’t know. Ritchie knew about him and Goh, had known from the very beginning. They’d been together for a little less than a year, when Ash and Ritchie decided to travel Hoenn together; Ritchie knew about their relationship, he knew about the long-distance, he knew how hard Ash tried to stay in touch, even when it meant staying up until late, or waking up crazy early to catch some minutes on the phone.

They’d been traveling together for _months._ Ritchie had to know how much Goh meant to him. How he would never do anything to put their relationship at risk.

And that kiss… _why had Ritchie done that?_

It’s not like they had…

_Well._

There _was_ chemistry. Or rather - it was hard for Ash to look back into the stuff he felt before him and Goh got together. But as he grows, he sometimes ponders on the relationships he holds with his friends and partners of so many journeys.

And there was no denying that with him and Ritchie there had always a certain… sort of a _vibe_? Like, when you really like someone, and you are very happy to be friends with them, and it’s - totally - very exciting when you run into each other, and get to make new memories together. Super cool. Also, _well,_ Ritchie was _cute._ Ash could say that objectively, because blue eyes and auburn hair are are nice feature combination, he’d also grown into his body and was now a nice-looking guy. Ash could think that. There was nothing weird about it. Totally not.

There was a time, when Ash was fifteen and Ritchie had come over to Vermillion for a week, that he could see a hint of…of _something_ sparking in his objectively-pretty-blue-eyes. Something Ash could admit now he had felt as well.

But he’d been too confused at the time. Couldn’t quite understand what it _could have_ meant. Besides, whatever he felt towards Ritchie, he realized not much later he felt for Goh in tenfold, and with an added _other-something_ behind it he simply hadn’t experienced before.

The next time he saw Ritchie, it was all said and done. Goh and him had gotten together, and anything Ash thought he’d seen in his friend’s eyes was gone. Which was just as well, because Ash was certain now that it hadn’t been the real deal.

The real deal was Goh. And Ash didn’t need to understand anything else.

But the chemistry with Ritchie hadn’t changed. He was still very happy to be friends with him, and he was very excited to meet up and make new memories together. And, _yeah,_ Ritchie was still very cute. But there was still nothing wrong with admitting that. For Ash, there was a lot more than just looks involved when it came to being attracted to someone. He’d learned that about himself, too.

He hadn’t been worried about any of it when they moved to Hoenn. Ritchie would battle the League, Ash chose to challenge the top ranking trainers of the region instead.

They worked great together, there was good synergy, and they were both easy-going about the road. Ritchie was realistic to Ash’s dreamy nature, and Ash was brave when Ritchie hesitated. They balanced each other out where it mattered, and that made for great travel and experiences. Besides, he was one of Ash’s oldest friends, it was a great idea all around.

Until an hour before, when Ritchie had jumped on him out of the blue and _kissed him._

Ritchie, whom he’d known since they were ten. Ritchie, whom he’d battled countless times over the years.

Ritchie, who knew Ash had a boyfriend. And to whom that didn’t matter. Apparently.

That was… it put at conflict everything else Ash thought he knew about his friend. Because Ritchie, _his friend,_ would never do something like that.

Except he just had. And Ash…he just… he didn’t know how to process that…

There’s a hand to his left arm, pressing right into the spot where it _stings._ It’s enough to bring him back. “Penny for your thoughts?” Questions Goh, chin gently posed on the trainer’s shoulder, as Ash picks apart the pieces of their tent.

“Hm? Oh, nothing important.” He replies. Goh gives him an unconvinced look. “I was just remembering some…stuff.”

Of course, Goh isn’t any more pleased with that response, but he nods his understanding and drops the topic, because he knows Ash will talk about it later, if he deems it relevant enough.

Ash doesn’t know yet if he deems it relevant enough, but he’s grateful for Goh’s understanding nonetheless.

“What did you guys decide, then? About the fruits and the coastal relationship, was it?” He honestly hasn’t been paying that much attention. Which is reproachable, considering this is his and Goh’s job they are supposed to be doing.

But it’sthe first time in, uh… _forever?_ That he’s seen Goh and Ritchie coexist so well around each other.

Ash realized they didn’t speak about anything other than the work, but even so, he’d heard them chuckle a couple of times, so it was definitely going better than anything he’d hoped, and he figured it was best to let them do their thing.

 _That,_ and also because he’s been terribly distracted from his trip down memory-lane.

“We need some more info, but it all points to the seawater influencing the soil, which subsequently affects the Pinkan seeds and the trees.” Ash hums, halfway listening, halfway looking at Ritchie by the water-stream, setting up his camping gear. His full attention returns to Goh when he feels a gentle nuzzling on his neck. “Hey, seriously, you all right?”

Ash smiles. “Yeah, baby. I’m good.” Goh lifts his head a bit and Ash bumps their noses together, a smirk taking over his face. “I’m kinda sore all over, though.” He comments, feigning innocence, grin widening at Goh’s sudden blush. “Don’t know how _that_ happened.” He’s trying for flirty, but it backfires when Goh’s hand comes up to pinch his ear. “ _Ouch! Hey!”_

An unimpressed Glare stares back at him. “Don’t worry,” He says, eyes narrowing. “It won’t happen again.”

Then he turns away, leaving a pouty Ash behind. “Wait, no! I _want_ it to happen again!” He whines, trailing after his indifferent boyfriend.

Ritchie hears the commotion and stares from afar, amused. Those two sure have a language of their own.

And it’s…endearing. They’re good for one another, that much is obvious. They have that type of connection and flow Ritchie’s only ever heard about in cheesy romantic films, or maybe read about in love-poems.

Though in those movies there’s always some grand gesture or declarations, and the poems always talk about pulling down the moon and the stars and the entire solar system for one’s beloved. Ritchie can’t say he sees any of that on Ash and Goh.

What he sees is joy, sheer and unapologetic enjoyment at being together. And he sees comfort, in the way they talk to each other, how they know one another so well. He sees well-rehearsed moves, always conscious of the other’s space in a room, and the synergy that only accompanies people who’ve been together for years.

He thinks those are infinitely better than all the romantic mumbo-jumbo. He wouldn’t know what to do with the moon anyways.

Ritchie sees all this. Sees them flirt and be sweet to one another. And he longs.

But not for Ash. No. Not anymore, at least.

He’d really fucked up, that time. And Ash really is a better man than Ritchie ever will be, for, even after his initial shock and reaction, he had still returned to their camp that night, with recollected berries as a peace offering, and willing to talk the whole thing out.

Initially, Ritchie had hoped he wouldn’t tell Goh about it (He’d only met him once, about two years ago, when Ash and him weren’t yet together but were already very much tied to one another. And Goh had been so nice, so smart, and so determined, Ritchie could immediately tell why Ash was so fond of him), he didn’t want Goh to be upset as well. It was bad enough already with Ash.

Ash had looked at him square in the eyes, and, with a very serious voice, said, _I can’t lie to Goh, Ritch._

Ritchie didn’t really know how that conversation went. Ash only said ‘ _it’ll be all right’,_ and left it at that.

Him and Ash, they’d made it through that tiff. But seeing Goh yesterday, for the first time in so long, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. He felt even more put-out when he noticed how nonchalant the other man was being.

Was he supposed to act as if nothing had happened? Should he say something? He felt as though an apology was in order, but all Goh wanted to talk about was the work, the funny fruits and their funny pink colors. And that felt safe. That felt like neutral, common ground and, not one to alter the balance of the universe, Ritchie ran with it.

He ran with it and talked about Pinkan trees until he couldn’t discern between what he knew were facts and what he’d conjured in the moment for the sake of keeping the conversation going.

Regarding his feelings for Ash, these days, and back then. Well…

“Hey, Ritch! Are you done with your tent?” Calls Ash. Is he - is he taking off his _pants? “_ You wanna join me in the water for a bit?” Ah, he’s wearing swimming trunks underneath, which…isn’t any less strange.

“Uh…sure,” He replies, eyes casting in Goh’s direction, to get his take on this development.

But the researcher is unbothered, organizing backpacks and other things around the yellow tent they’ve brought, Ash’s Pikachu and Goh’s own Cinderace roaming around, content to play with Sparky and a few of Goh’s other Pokémon that he’s just released.

“Are you not coming?” He asks to Goh, who shakes his head in reply.

“I might go in later, when the sun has come down a bit.” He says. “But you go ahead. He’ll get bored if he has no-one to play with.” There’s a fond roll of eyes and an encouraging nod. And Ritchie, who didn’t know he’d been asking for permission, feels quite relieved to have been given the green-light.

So he joins Ash in the water, respectfully looking away as the trainer takes off his hat and shirt.

But there’s no really escaping the view when they are both in the river, up to their navel in water, and facing each other.

Ash is _shredded._

Eh, what Ritchie means is: well, _he’s shredded._ Muscles defined and tight, skin tan and _nice._ To look at. Admirable. Definitely so. _Objectively so._

Ash had been good looking back then. He kept a semi-regular training regime, proper of an aspiring champion. He had always been athletic, so, naturally, he would have a good physique.

But _this._ The way he looks _now._ Let’s just say it’s a good thing they’re in the water, because Ritchie suddenly feels a little warm, and like he might start sweating soon.

 _He’s not yours to look at,_ he thinks a moment later, reproaching himself for such a daring outburst. None-the-wiser, Ash looks back to him with a smile, sinking down in the water with a relaxed expression.

From the corner of his disobedient eyes, the other trainer catches a glimpse of something that reminds him, once and for all, how much _not-his_ Ash is.

 _That must’ve hurt,_ he thinks, as he sees the dark-red splotches that cover Ash’s chest and neck. Standing up among the others, is a purplish bite mark on his left bicep. But they keep going, down his neck and through his torso, all the way to his waistline and - Ritchie doesn’t really need to look any further.

He shouldn’t have looked this far to begin with.

Ash is his _friend._ You don’t ogle your friends. Especially not the ones that you’ve spent the last couple of years trying to get over.

Especially not the ones who are in a very-established, very committed relationship.

Especially not the friends that have stuck by your side, through thick and thin, and are kind enough to forgive you for having a crush on them, and making an inappropriate move out of the blue. The friend that listened to you, and was understanding and gentle about letting you down.

That’s the type of friend Ash is. And Ritchie owes it to him - and to Goh, he feels - to be better than this right now.

“It sure brings back memories,” Comments Ash, breaking the silence, as he floats belly-up, arms crossed behind his head.

Ritchie hums in response. “About Hoenn?” The trainer nods, splashing the water around them. “You’ve been traveling a lot ever since, right?” They stay in touch. Ash has shared plenty of pictures of his journeys over the last year.

Ash considers, “I mean, except for that year at the Champions Island, I’ve never really _stopped_ traveling… uh, but it’s been different, this past year, I feel like it’s been a whole lot more stable.”

“Because of your place in Vermillion?”

Ash shakes his head, thoughtful. “Because of Goh.” It’s almost a realization for him. But as he says it, it immediately makes sense. “It’s just different now that we’re really on our own. I guess is that adult stuff people are always talking about.” As he says it, he turns back upright in the water, eyes immediately finding his partner, several feet away from them.

“You like it?”

Ash looks back to him. His radiant smile enough of an answer. “I love it.” He replies either way.

Ritchie understands he doesn’t mean Vermillion. Or the adulting stuff.

“You’re still always on the move, though.” Says Ash next, just as a weary Pikachu and Sparky begin teetering the edge of the stream. He swims closer to them in case they fall.

“I think I just haven’t found a place that feels like home for me.” Replies Ritchie, over a shrug. “Besides, there is still a lot to discover out there. I couldn’t imagine quitting the journey just yet.” Ash’s eyes are still very beautiful, and right now, they meet Ritchie’s with that characteristic glint on them that says _yeah, I get what you mean. I feel the same way._

Sparky pushes Pikachu into the water. They stay in for another hour. Until Goh huddles them back to start working on dinner.

Nobody kisses anyone out of the blue. Though Goh isn’t all that pleased at being kissed by an Ash who just ate his bodyweight in spicy-sauced noodles.

Goh doesn’t push Ash away, however. And Ritchie longs. Wishes there was a fourth person with them tonight.

-0-

_[March 17th, 20:45, Pinkan Island, Pinkan Forest]_

They stay by the fire after dinner. Not to keep warm, the night has a light breeze that is about enough to keep them from complaining about the heat - Goh, at least -. But the conversation flows well, and they find no reason to move anywhere else. Ritchie has a thousand questions about Goh’s time at the Aether Foundation, about Ash’s time in the Island, about the list and the mysteries they have solved thus far.

And Goh realizes now, through Ritchie’s smart and insightful questions, why is it that Ash likes him so much, why he’s thought of as such a wise man for his age.

It’s because _he is._ He _is_ smart, and funny, and stubborn in the right ways (not like him. _Definitely not_ like Ash). Ritchie’s been around the world since he was a child, too. Mostly on his own, befriending and training Pokémon, learning about their natures, and the best ways to look after them.

All of that, they share. And for all of that, Goh begins to recognize in him a friend. Everything else that has happened… he can’t forget it. Not quite. But he can be mature enough to see Ritchie for more than something that happened years ago, and for which he’s clearly grown from.

It won’t happen tonight. Not right this minute, as they pass around peanuts by the bonfire, talking about gym battles and evolution stones. But it’s a start, and Goh decides he’s ready to take the first steps.

He leaves them about half an hour later, claiming he wants to read some last bits of the data and log it in while it’s still fresh in his mind. They’ll be switching islands again tomorrow, and it’s always hectic to be on the move. It’s better to get things done while they can.

 _Stay a little longer,_ he says to Ash, dropping a kiss to his hat-less head, _you guys don’t get to see each other often._ Ash’s grateful smile looks comical in contrast to Ritchie’s surprised face, that eventually tames into a shy smile. Goh tries to reply with a reassuring one of his own, and gives him a last goodnight, telling Ash that he’ll probably still be up when he comes into the tent, not to worry about making noise (an Ash trying to be stealth could be more rambunctious than a regular one, Goh’s not above applying his knowledge like this).

It grows quiet anyways, almost as soon as Goh is gone. Not because they run out of topics, there’s plenty still to talk about. But it was always a bit like this in the past. After a certain hour, if they were still up, they’d just stay in the dark, their Pokémon around them, the night blanketing them in its sounds, the stars lighting up the path to nowhere in particular, to anywhere the road led them next.

Looking back, Ritchie realized it was in these moments that he began falling for Ash. The energetic champion, who charmed his way out of trouble, who found creative solutions when faced with difficult problems, and always felt the odds were on his favor. That’s the Ash everyone saw.

And Ritchie _liked_ that Ash, so much. It’s the one he’d befriended many years before.

But then there was this. A mellower, more reflecting Ash, that suddenly began speaking about the Pokémon that created the universe, and wondered where they might be right now. He thought about the Pokémon he’d said goodbye to during the journey, wondering about their well-being, missing them. Sometimes he said nothing at all, but his eyes would shine in a special way, something Ritchie knew very few people had seen before.

For a while, he dreamed to be the person Ash shared these thoughts with. Be the person with whom he shared his silences, too. And during those months they travelled together, he desperately began to wish the rest of the journey would be together.

It was the type of futile dreaming that could only ever be that. A dream.

As it turned out, Ash was already sharing the road with someone. Sort of. They were a ridiculous number of miles away, but Ash always said that they would be back together soon enough.

Ritchie had never doubted the certainty in his voice.

That day… Goh was supposed to travel soon, come to Hoenn and join them for a week. But then something called an ultra wormhole opened near … _Mele Mele Island?_ He would need to stay behind now, and it’d be two more months before they could make time to meet again.

There wasn’t a fight. That’s not how Ritchie remembers it. But Ash had been upset, had hung up that call with a frustrated sigh and a frown, telling Goh that he’d call him later, he didn’t feel like talking about it anymore.

He was tense the rest of the day. There was setting up camp, and figuring out what dinner would look like. There was Ritchie trying to lighten his mood by goofing around the camp. Ash laughing for the first time in what felt like forever. And Ritchie, foolish, seventeen year old Ritchie, crushing harder than he ever had, considered all his options and decided to go for it, against his much, much better judgement.

His heart didn’t break when Ash pushed him away. The regret he felt was enough to bulldoze through any other emotion he was possibly feeling (and there were a lot).

His heart didn’t break, because he wasn’t expecting Ash to turn into him and kiss him back. He wasn’t expecting anything at all. He’d just been selfish. And stupid. And his mistake stared right back at him in the form of scared brown eyes, much more upset than they’d been at any other point that day.

Then Ash ran away. Pikachu after him. An equally startled Sparky came to sand besides Ritchie, worried for its trainer’s wellbeing.

Ash ran away. And Ritchie cried until he was out of tears. Until the trainer returned, many hours later, offering the berries he’d found on the way in exchange for a conversation.

“I’m glad you guys are getting along,” Confides Ash tonight, eyes looking up to the stars.

This is how they had that serious conversation years back, not looking into each other’s eyes, but up to the stars. A reminisce of that first night they’d shared as children. It made talking easier. They didn’t need to see each other, their voices and the dots in the sky passed on the messages clearly enough.

“He’s really cool.” Is what Ritchie says, genuine admiration in his voice. He can see why Ash loves him.

More importantly, he can see _how much_ Ash loves him. His entire presence transforms when he’s with Goh. More powerful, more driven that Ritchie has ever seen, in nearly a decade of knowing his friend.

“Yeah.” Agrees the trainer, fond expression on his face. “He likes you, too. I can tell.”

Ritchie smiles at that. “That’s good. I - um, I didn’t really expect for him to even talk to me, but…”

“Goh is not like that,” Reassures the trainer. “He’s…he’s just not like that.”

Neither is Ash, thinks Ritchie, who’d half expected Ash to return that day, pack his things, and call it a day, not even glancing back before walking out and away of Ritchie’s life for good.

He’s heard somewhere that love is finding someone who shares your values. Maybe they were onto something.

Ritchie doesn’t say much else, but he _thinks._ He thinks of how he feels no need to speak right now, how the silence carries through and it’s comfortable. It’s not… he doesn’t own, or read into Ash’s silences as a lover would, not in the way Goh does. But he’s here as a friend, as a different type of partner that, too, understands Ash in his own way, admires him and feels that bond reflect in the way Ash treats him.

It makes him feel special.

He’s heard somewhere that friends should make you feel special, otherwise they are not really your friends.

He’s heard a lot of things during his years on the road, proving them right or wrong is one of the games he likes to play. It helps him keep going.

It’s many years on the road, for Ritchie, most of them just him and his Pokémon. And for a good couple of years now, he’s wished there was someone to share it with.

Not Ash. Not anymore. Though he doesn’t mind running into him every now and again like this. But, more permanently…

“I’ve met…this person…” He begins. It’s the first time he talks about it with someone else. It feels right for that person to be Ash.

Ash hums, “Yeah? How are they?”

“Kind.” It’s the first word that comes to mind when he thinks of Atlas. Just kind. And curious. And obsessed with astronomy and space Pokémon.

“Space Pokémon are _awesome,”_ Supports Ash. _Where did you meet? How old are they? Do they have any Pokémon?_

They met in Unova, some moths back. They’re twenty-two, just a bit older than Ritchie, but neither one really cares. They have a Clefairy and a Starmie. They like space, _because space is so different, Ritchie. But it’s still so beautiful._

Atlas is different, too. But to Ritchie, they’re the most beautiful person he’s ever met.

It’s nothing official… _yet,_ but they’ve been hanging out every time they get a chance, and he feels…Ritchie feels…

“Like it finally makes sense.” Completes Ash, sagely. And Ritchie has to make a double take to confirm that, _yes, he’s just said those words,_ and, _yes, that’s exactly it._

Years back, when he’d been hung-up on Ash, it was fiery and confusing, something in him burning bright and _angry._ And for the longest time, not knowing any better, Ritchie thought that was the feeling he should chase. _Fire._

But Atlas feels nothing like that. With Atlas, Ritchie feels as though he’s met someone he’s known his entire life. There were immediate understandings of things they had no way of knowing about each other. It felt easy. Unhurried. It feels like floating. Safe and sound.

And Ritchie hasn’t had a home in a long, long time. But every time he sees Atlas, it’s a lot like he’s arriving there. Like he’s exactly where he needs to be. And the road, the questions, the games he plays. It all finally makes sense.

Ash’s gaze remains fixed upwards, to where the stars are and the night reigns at its darkest, and Ritchie doesn’t know how to continue after his words from a minute before.

But Ash does. “I’d like to meet them, someday. They sound _really cool.”_ He winks to the sky. Ritchie feels it in his heart. “Now come on, tell me, what Pokémon do you see?” He asks a moment later, as he nudges Ritchie’s shoulder with his own, still sitting next to each other by the dying bonfire.

There’s a full-beat pause, before Ritchie is smiling broadly, and looking back up to the firmament in contemplation.

“That’s an Eevee,” He points, “and that one, over there, it’s a Diglett…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really said Ritchie rights, huh,,,, I love him so much??? can we keep him?? @ Pokémon Journeys folks, pls an episode (or two, or a million) featuring him.
> 
> would love to hear your thoughts! thanks again so much for stopping by, stay crazy safe as the holiday season swings in x x


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry loveys, I was out for the weekend and this wasn't edited and I can't post until I've at least read it thrice because *control freak* - anyways apologies it's late !! but it's up now !! enjoy !! 
> 
> *if ya wanna skip the naughty bits, stop around the mark for [March 21st, 22:17], feel free to pick back up right after that whole scene.

_[March 22nd, 2:08, Mandarin South Island, Mandarin Desert]_

“Shh!”

“Baby,” Sighs Ash, nervous smile playing on his lips, “is a little late for quiet, don’t you think?” He still whispers the words, though, in a futile attempt to keep it down.

In contrast, a scandal loud enough to wake up the underworld unfolds around them, eager trainers, researchers, and enthusiasts alike crowd towards the impact zone, many of them ready to battle, others carrying heavy equipment and cameras, hoping to catch the most data possible of the extraordinary event.

The dead of the night in the middle of the desert seems to be the perfect time and place for a meteor shower to happen. A meteor shower carrying Cleffa and Pokémon eggs, if it turns out the town tales are true.

Ash hopes they are. Not because of the scientific value (that, too. Sure.), but mostly because Goh’s eyes have been shining all day long with so much hope in them, it’d break both their hearts if it weren’t the case.

Goh insists on being stealth about it, lest they scare the infant Pokémon coming in the meteors. Ash thinks is the most ridiculous (also the most adorable) thing Goh has ever said. Dutifully, he humors his boyfriend, talks low and watches his step, even when it’s so noisy around them they might as well be in the middle Trovitopolis again.

People are going north, loud and in hoards towards where the meteor-impacts were heard. It’s the logical course to take…but -

“Why’d you stop?” Questions Goh, when he realizes Ash has gone still a few steps behind. Next to him, Lucario has caught onto his hesitation. “Ash? What is it?”

The aforementioned shakes his head. “I - we should go that way,” He points to the east. Lucario nods its agreement.

Goh frowns, “Because…?”

 _Because there’s like, the craziest aura coming from over there._ “Um…”

Cinderace’s ears lift, and turn to the east as well. The fire-hare pulls at its trainer’s hand, supporting the suggestion.

Goh’s frown deepens as he looks down to his phone, “The readings say this way, though.” He tries, winded-down. It’s two in the morning, he doesn’t have it in him to make an argument. He just wants to see the baby-Cleffa. Wherever it is they are.

Cinderace insists again. Lucario has already begun walking towards the alternate direction, and Ash’s eyes are _pleading_ now. Still fidgety, but demanding.

Goh knows a lost battle when he sees one. “All right,” He nods, “You lead the way, then.”

Ash smiles his gratitude, and holds onto Goh’s hand to walk him to where the energy feels strongest.

He’s not the most tuned with his own ability, but he trusts Lucario to steer him right if he begins to wander too far off.

It’s not like Ash _summons_ this power or anything. It just…it sort of just happens. Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it isn’t. Ash doesn’t count on it anymore than he counts on sunny days.

If it’s there, it’s there. That’s great. It comes in handy. He doesn’t miss it when it’s gone.

But Goh had been fascinated when he first started noticing the patterns, and would incessantly ask questions about how he felt: _Did you change anything in your diet? Is it this place? Are Pokémon talking to you?_

_We’ve eaten the same things, we’ve done the same stuff as usual, we’ve been to the same places. Nobody has… well, Lucario, but you already know how he is._

If he had to be all scientific about it, his best guess would be that the elevated energy readings happening in the desert have also influenced his own hidden-power. That’s how Goh might put it later.

In Ash’s simpler words: The moon influences the Cleffa arrivals, and it also meddles with his meager aura reading abilities, apparently.

Ash hasn’t mentioned it yet because…frankly, because Goh’s constant questioning can be exhausting, and he’s been nursing a headache most of the day, since they arrived to the desert and the sudden energies began flowing in. It overwhelmed him immediately, and he doesn’t want to deal with the impending questionnaire and risk snapping at his partner.

Though by the vibe he’s getting from him, he’s suspicious already.

Ash walks faster.

They’re a good mile away from everyone else in the desert-camp. It’s pitch black aside from their lanterns, and even the unforgiving wind from earlier that night has gone still.

If the place weren’t filled with people - and the energy wasn’t so pure - Ash would be positively terrified.

“Ash…” _There’s nothing here._ Except there is, Ash can _feel it._

He just can’t see it yet.

“I know,” He says, trying to placate his increasingly disappointed partner, “I know. But…trust me. Let me just…” Lucario has gone off to a nearby dune, and seems to be about to deliver a hit to the sandy mount. “Wait!” He calls, before any damage is done, “ _Gentler,”_ He instructs. Lucario whines. “Try an aura-wave?”

“To the _sand_?” Ash nods to Goh’s skepticism, then pulls him in against his body.

“Close your eyes,” He requests, both to Goh and Pikachu, Cinderace has already covered his own with his ears. “It’s gonna get real bright.”

Goh huffs, “Ash, _what - ”_ His eyes close anyways, because suddenly it’s _real-fucking-bright_ around them.

Some moments pass, in which blinding-light dims to wavering, a fainting glimmer coming from where the dune now used to be.

Goh, whose face found shelter in Ash’s neck, tentatively opens an eye as he lifts his head, his mouth opens, but it’s immediately shut by a gloved hand coming up to his lips.

“ _Now be quiet.”_ Murmurs Ash, carefully approaching the glowing spot. He reaches out a hand, which Goh immediately takes and, with featherlike steps, they walk towards the edge of a new discovery.

-0-

_[March 21st, 22:17, Mandarin South Island, Mandarin Desert]_

Ash laughs, muffled into the skin of his neck. “Shh!” It’s not quiet, (or effective) and only manages to make Goh laugh _louder._

“You started it!” Giggles Goh, bringing a hand to his mouth to try and stiffen the noise. Ash nips his shoulder again, playful, and Goh debates between pushing him off or pulling him in.

The night fell early in the desert. Exhausted from the day-long trip to reach the camp, and after an hour of recon and talking to the people around, they decided on a light dinner and going to bed relatively early, setting their tent a bit further from the others.

Thought not far enough that the absolute _racket_ going on inside will be missed by the fellow-campers.

There’s also a fifty-fifty chance that a meteor shower will occur tonight, Under that possibility, the Pokémon have been sent outside, with the mission to keep an eye out for developments. Ash and Goh will get some rest, wake up in a few hours to check if anything happened, and switch to allow their friends some shuteye as well.

That was the plan, at least. An hour ago. When they came into the tent to _sleep._

It’s…not going too well.

It begins with gentle teasing and tickling on Ash’s side (that much is true, _he_ started it). Then blowing raspberries to Goh’s chest, his neck, and his ear.

Which Ash _knows_ is a weak spot for Goh, weak enough to turn him into a giggling, squirming mess in a matter of seconds.

Ever the challenger, Goh doesn’t stay behind, and responds by biting bruises in Ash’s neck and shoulders, right into the spots where the love-marks from days before have begun fading.

That’d be a shame, he better refresh them.

They’re just fooling around, they’re tired but also restless, and Goh hopes that cuddling and being stupid like this will be enough to lull them into some sleep soon enough.

But then he makes the mistake to pull at Ash’s hair, right as his tongue soothes teethmarks on the flesh of a collarbone.

It’s still meant to be playful, if a little flirty. But Ash’s grunted moan changes the air immediately.

Then the trainer breathes out, and a shiver goes down Goh’s spine as strong hands tighten around his hips.

“We can’t,” He protests. It’d be more convincing if it hadn’t come out as a whine.

Ash tuts, “We _shouldn’t,”_ He corrects. “We definitely can.” To make a point, he pushes his hips forward as he pulls Goh’s own with his hands, and swallows the moan that rips from Goh’s mouth at the friction.

“Ash… _we’re in a tent. Surrounded by other people.”_ Hisses the researcher, blush part-mortification, part-really-turned-on.

“You better keep quiet, then,” Taunts Ash. “You can do that, right, baby?” _No? “_ You know I love to hear you.” Good, because that nibble to his ear is going to make him _scream. “_ But right now, can you be quiet for me?”

Goh bites his lip to stifle another whine. Ash tuts again, disapprovingly this time. “None of that,” He chastises. But then his voice drops, along with Goh’s resolve to stop the advances. “You can bite me instead. No hurting your lip, okay?” Goh nods his understanding, not trusting his voice.

He does unfurl his lip, slowly, noticing how Ash seems to be entranced by the action, licking his own lips in anticipation. “Kiss me,” He murmurs.

Ash doesn’t need to be told twice.

He delves into Goh’s mouth with practiced ease, runs his tongue through the roof of it, and catches the consequent whimper as he sucks the abused bottom lip between his own. As long as Goh’s mouth is busy, they should be able to get away with this.

“Shh,” He whispers against the researcher’s lips, teasing, but also in an attempt to distract him, as he traces the outline of his cock with the pads of his fingers, “Baby, shh.”

He has to crash their mouths together again when Goh threatens a moan, and nearly retrieves his hand in alarm after his thumb traces the still-clothed head, making Goh keen so loud there’s no-way it wasn’t heard at least a tent over. Oh well.

He’s not doing any better, it’s just that his low-grunts and sighs are simmered down by Goh’s pitchier noises. The breathy, little noises that make Ash’s blood boil, and turn him stupid enough that he considers fooling around in a tent surrounded by strangers a _good idea._

Goh keens again, thrusting into the hand still teasing over his pants, and the mewling sound he releases afterwards is enough to make Ash forgo whatever little self-consciousness he was gathering.

It’s an opportunity to be creative, at the very least.

He kisses Goh again, tenderly this time, savoring the graze of his tongue and the mint of the toothpaste they’d used less than an hour before. He lets their lips caress and press and wet with each other’s saliva. And when he pulls away, he lets Goh see just how adored he is as his hazy blue eyes meet deep-brown ones.

Then he turns him around, before there’s any space for questioning or protest.

The cons are that they can’t see each other, turning is an uncomfortable task for the neck, and there’s only so much Goh’s legs can spread when he’s lying on his side.

The pros are that Ash can needle an arm under Goh’s neck, a hand easily reaching face-level, and the other over his waist and down his sweatpants.

The _biggest pro_ is that Goh’s pert ass is lined directly with his own strained cock, and if he cants his hips _just so -_

“Mm!- ah…” Shit, he should’ve done the other thing first.

Goh slams both of his hands to his mouth, in a belated attempt to keep his own noises down. Ash smiles, and gently removes them with one of his own. “Shh,” He soothes again, “it’s all right, baby. Here, like this.” The hand next to his face bends forward, and suddenly there are two fingers prodding at Goh’s lips, that open eagerly in understanding. He takes them in almost to the third knuckle, and they press down on his tongue like a deadweight.

Ash hums his approval as he nuzzles the nape of his neck, pushing the droopy ponytail aside. “Good,” He praises. Goh experiments with sucking around them as best as he can, and is rewarded with a heavy exhale on his ear. Ash chuckles, gruff and dark and delicious, “It’s supposed to shut you up, stop seducing me with it,” He bites.

“Dou sht-arth-ed-ith,” Accuses Goh again. Ash laughs, louder this time, candid and free and, fuck, Goh kinda wishes he could see him right now. But the fingers in his mouth are anchoring, so it’s the trainer’s other hand, that is finally moving again, and has pushed both their his sweatpants mid-thigh, allowing them much awaited skin-to-skin contact, and lets Ash reach out and wrap his hand around - _“Mmph!”_

As far as makeshift gags go, the fingers do their job just fine. Even when Goh inadvertently presses his teeth together as Ash pumps him. It stings a bit. He can take it.

“This would be easier with lube,” mutters Ash, realizing that, while the pre-come from Goh’s cock is sufficient, it’s not enough to guarantee the usual fluidness with which he’d do this. His own dick - slowly rocking to Goh’s behind, feels like it could do with some extra slickness to it.

Goh groans, and, almost without moving, reaches out an arm to his near vicinity and procures a tube of exactly that. He pops off the lid with expert fingers, and practically shoves it into Ash’s hand. “Ghet-on with-ith.”

Oh? “Were you keeping this in handy?” Sneers Ash instead.

It earns him an elbow to the stomach. _“You shut up,_ ” Barks Goh, spitting out the fingers. “I’ll end this right here, and take care of it myself,” He blusters, angrily.

It’s all bluff. He might cry if Ash stops touching him.

The trainer grunts, “Fuck, that’d be really hot.” He breathes. “Can I watch?”

Goh furrows his brows and, deciding he no longer needs a boyfriend, yanks the lube back to smear a generous amount on his fingers, pushes the sweatpants down to his ankles, and takes himself in one hand, the other coming up to muffle the inevitable noise.

Neither makes it too far, for Ash is swatting one away and pushing aside the other, promptly returning to his duty, “Maybe next time,” He says, and it’s both a promise, and a command to stay-the-fuck-still.

The hand on Goh’s cock begins pumping again, slowly feeding pleasure into his system. The fingers tease back into his mouth, to ensure said pleasure is - at least partially - concealed into the bounds of the tent. His own hips begin to thrust forward again, dick now slippery and sliding easily against Goh’s asscheeks.

Goh doesn’t rest idle. He darts an arm backwards to hold onto Ash’s hip, kneading at the flesh there as he encourages the movements of his hips, meeting him halfway. His leg has been pushed back to rest atop Ash’s thigh, it allows a freer movement, not to mention much-desired closeness in this position.

If Ash moves a certain way, the tip of his cock will catch at the rim of Goh’s entrance. It’s an inevitable gasp for both of them.

They can’t go all the way - it’d be decidedly _too loud_ of that happens - but this is almost just as good. It’s warm, and the friction is delicious. The sounds coming from Goh, while still muffled, manage to be erotic in a different way. The wet noises of his slurping on Ash’s fingers, the little, torturing mewls that escape him every time Ash delivers a particularly hard stroke to his cock, even his pounding heart, that Ash can feel so clearly with how plastered his chest is to the other man’s back.

Quiet is the last thing they are being.

“ _Fuck,”_ Breathes Ash, as the movement of his hips fastens, hand tightening on Goh’s length as well. He licks a stripe up the side of Goh’s neck, bites bare of his shoulders not covered by the thin tank-top, then polishes the precious, cherished love-bite at the base of his neck-line that Ash _adores,_ because it makes Goh -

“- _Hah, ah, h-hey!”_ Yeah, that.

It’s a compromise, not being able to voice their pleasure. Goh’s sounds alone are something Ash could get-off on any day - sometimes had, when the distance was great and their yearning much greater, and all they had was far-apart late night phone conversations - but that wasn’t the case anymore, these days, he’d grown used to and spoiled himself often with all the wonderful sounds his boy would make when he felt good. When _Ash_ would make him feel good.

“Can’t wait to have you in a room again,” Begins to say Ash, hoping that his voice sounds remotely toned-down, but too lost in his own pleasure to actually care if anyone can hear them anymore. “Can’t wait to be inside of you again. Get you all open and ready for me.” He accentuates that statement with a sharp thrust, that has Goh biting down on his fingers again. “Would you like that, baby? For me to open you up?” Goh nods, helpless and desperate, with spit now dribbling down the corners of his mouth. “Hm, I could use my fingers…” The same ones wrapped around Goh’s member right this moment, sliding expertly to make him cry out. Then he cranes his neck a little, gently nibs at Goh’s oversensitive lobe. “…or…” An exhale, hot breath dampening the already humid skin. “… I could use my mouth,” He finishes.

And so does Goh. With a choked sob, head tilted back and hitting the top of Ash’s own, tears spilling and streaming down his cheeks. He comes into the trainer’s hand, hips snapping back-and-forth on a disoriented chase for pleasure, forward into Ash’s ready-hand, backwards into Ash’s hard, pulsing cock, that sure enough is coming as well, overwhelmed with the headiness of the moment, with Goh’s muffled noises and the warmth of his entire body, with the little shared fantasy of future encounters fueling this one. He nips on a bare shoulder one last time, just as Goh bites down on his fingers again, and they both tremble and _try_ to stiffen the sounds from their orgasms.

Ash strokes him until he’s whimpering at the oversensitivity, ruts a few more times into the mess he’s made on his lover’s lower-back, until it becomes a bit too much for him as well.

Goh’s entire body relaxes afterwards, and he sags back into Ash’s chest a limp, satisfied mess. The trainer snickers affectionately, kissing the spot he’s just bitten, and slowly begins to pull back the fingers inside Goh’s mouth.

He’s not expecting the pitiful whine that rips from his boyfriend’s throat at the action, nor the way he pouts and protests childishly right after. _Definitely something to revisit later, then._

He pulls back a little bit, untangling their limbs and letting Goh rest fully onto his back. He goes easily, still somewhat pouty, but too tired-out to fight him more at the moment. Propped sideways, Ash hovers over the researcher, dries his spit-soaked fingers on his t-shirt, and reaches that same hand out to caress the side of Goh’s face. “Baby, you with me?” He questions.

Blue eyes gaze up lazily, a little unfocused and glassy, but shining healthily back to Ash. He hums in response.

“You okay?” Insists Ash, thumb stroking up and down the rosy-cheek, where the dried-down tears traced their path. Goh nods this time, smile easy on his lips, his arms coming up and forward to cradle Ash’s face, pulling him in so they can kiss.

“m perfect,” He slurs, pecking Ash twice more.

Ash agrees. And steals one last kiss before pulling back, Goh sleepily reaching around for a blanket, sinking deeper into their joint sleeping bags.

Ash swats his arm to keep him awake, “Hey, wait, I’ve gotta clean us up first.” His come-soiled hand is getting sticky, so it’s Goh’s stomach, and probably his ass, too. Goh will kill him if he lets him sleep like this. “I know you keep baby-wipes around. Where are they?” A lazy hand waves to the side of his head, where Goh’s travel-bag is.

Ash sniggers as he rummages through the pockets, because, “You just have these ready to go, huh,” He teases.

Goh is tired, but not tired enough to miss a kick to Ash’s shin. The undignified yelp he receives in reply is louder than any noise they made minutes before. And Goh decides the entire charade was for nothing.

Useless, yet not _fruitless._ “Shh!” He chides, before dissolving into giggles.

Baby-wipe in hand, Ash begins cackling as well. It takes him twice as long to get them ready for bed again, and, _yeah,_ they’re being loud as hell and half the camp is probably cursing their tent. But they’re having too much fun to care.

-0-

_[March 20th, 11:52, Mandarin South Island, Yambera Town]_

“Shh!” Hisses a patron, when Ash whines again at the stack of books in front of him, as if hoping they’d up and leave upon his complaining.

Unimpressed - and mildly irritated - Goh glares from across the table. “They’re not going to read themselves, you know.” He quips.

Ash only pouts harder. “If I stare long enough they might.” He’s being difficult, he knows. But he’s too bored to care, because, “We’ve been here for days already, Goh. Don’t you think we would’ve found something by now?”

“We _could have,_ but seeing as I’m the only one doing any research - ”

The trainer protests, “No, no, it’s not about the research. I mean, we should be out there, actually _talking_ to people, and learning about this from them.” He motions to the stack of books he hasn’t even touched.

Goh glares again, but considers.

That…might be a good idea, actually. Ash is right in that, three days in, there’s little to go on with by just coming to the library every day. They’ve got more lore than they know what to do with, and yet, there’s not a clear route to follow regarding the meteor showers, or any of the mysteries they might contain.

Goh sighs, conceding, “Very well. Let’s go ask the townsfolk, then.”

Ash lightens up immediately, waking up a napping Pikachu with the noise as he stands form his chair. “Yes!” He cheers.

The patrons shoot daggers their way.

‘ _Talking to people’_ somehow translates to ‘ _getting a snack’_ in Ash’s unique language, and that’s how they find themselves asking the owners of a small cafe about the Moon cycles in town, and if they’ve heard anything about the meteor showers.

“Oh, there’s all sorts of stories about the Moon around here,” Says Mila, the young waitress. “My grandpa used to tell them to my brother and I. The goddess who lives there. Lycanroc digging holes on the surface. The Scorbunny pouring holy water in the craters…”

As the tale goes, there’s an immortal Scorbunny living on the moon, it pours the elixir of life through its craters, keeping the balance of the satellite with the Earth. It’s also responsible for sending the meteors to Earth every couple of years, so Cleffa eggs can hatch.

Cinderace has a hard time processing the story. Ash raises a rare, skeptical eyebrow, wondering if maybe they should’ve stayed at the library instead.

But Goh is immediately hooked, and eats up every word with rapt interest, writing down notes about how Scorbunny on the moon sends meteorites to Earth every three years or so in order for Cleffa to be born. Mandarin South is a privileged location to receive these events, and they usually happen around the desert area, where the winds blow strongly, the nights are impossibly cold, and there’s no signs of civilization for miles and miles on end.

Naturally, Goh decides that’s where they’re headed next, while Ash begins to think they really should’ve just stayed at the library. Who needs to solve another quest anyways. Not them.

Mila tells them some more about the Scorbunny on the moon, tells them about an expedition his brother- a space enthusiast - left on a few days before, because it’s just about the time of the year when a meteor-shower _might_ occur. Chances are still fifty-fifty, and not even their best equipment guarantees that such a fantastic event will happen. But a couple dozen people think it’s likely, and they’ve set on their way to the possible adventure.

Of course, they must be there, too. _Of course._

Mila is nice enough to share her brother’s contact, and the coordinates of where him and the rest of the people should be. It’s about a day-long trip, and they decide to leave that afternoon and just camp when the sun sets.

Though still skeptical of the veracity of the tales they’ve been told, Ash doesn’t miss a chance to win over Goh, and he pesters him most of the way, because, _I told you taking to the townsfolk was a good idea. See how easy that was? And now we’re going where the meteor showers are. Ha! What book was ever gonna tell you that._

Goh pinches his left arm, where he _knows_ the bite-mark is still healing, and makes him yelp and whine and shut up for good. Then he begins talking about the Scorbunny on the moon, until even Cinderace is tired of listening.

-0-

_[March 22nd, 2:34, Mandarin South Island, Mandarin Desert]_

The day-long walk from Yambera Town to the desert is worth-it, considers Ash, as he sees his impossibly precious boyfriend laugh delightedly at the Cleffa climbing up his shoulders.

He’s seating on the sand as if he doesn’t have a care in the world, and is not at all preoccupied with determining whether these Cleffa came in the meteorites (they did), or whether they have any special abilities (they’re babies, so they probably don’t).

That isn’t Goh the scientist, or Goh his research-fellow. What lays in front of Ash is nothing but _Goh._ Pokémon-lover, wondrous and curious Goh, who loves to meet and connect with these creatures they share the world with. It’s the Goh he has seen evolve over the last nine years. It’s a privilege, and it fills Ash with pride.

“You’re a playful little thing, aren’t ya,” He says to a little Cleffa perched on his shoulder, trying to climb over to his hair, pulling at the long strands for leverage.

Ash laughs, smitten, and is quick to take a thousand pictures of the scene. For research purposes, _of course._

Pikachu plays around with the newborns, while Cinderace keeps a healthy distance, though there are still some Cleffa hanging by its feet. Lucario, whose first reaction is to punch anything foreign, mellows down considerably under the heavy influence of the full-moon, and willingly lets the babies dance around him and play, with even the tiniest of smiles pulling from its lips.

There’s hatched - and _unhatched -_ eggs in the hollow of the dune Lucario blew up, and there only seem to be Cleffa in the area, though Ash can sense Clefairy nearby, some Clefable, too. The trained researcher in him wonders if they are called by the meteor-shower, or if something about the newborn Cleffa emits any type of signal.

They dance around Cinderace and dance around Lucario, and the one that climbed up Goh’s head is moving its arms up and down as well. The moon doesn’t seem any different to Ash than it does any other night. But boy, is its energy _crushing._

Goh is unfazed, which is good. It’s a relief. He wouldn’t want for Goh to bear the same unforgiving headache he’s been feeling most of the day.

Little Cleffa on top of Goh’s head suddenly jumps into his arms, where he’s been sitting across from his boyfriend in a lazy lotus position. He catches it easily, but with some alarm at the possibility of it falling. They’re literal babies, fragile as they come.

“Hi, little one,” He coos. “You are really cute.” Cleffa shrieks at the gentle tickle, and Goh feels himself melt at the scene.

“I think it likes you,” Whispers Goh, still determined to keep his voice down. Though the Cleffa don’t seem to be bothered by the noise, considering how much of a scandal they are making themselves.

“You wanna try and catch one?” Asks Ash. It probably wouldn’t be much of a fight.

To his surprise, Goh shakes his head. “They’re newborns. I don’t know how it works? Do you think another Pokémon will help them? They’re so many…” There’s about thirty of them in this area. And Ash can sense the energy of at least three more hollows in the near vicinity.

“I think the Clefairy and Clefable will look after them.” He reassures.

Just as Goh is about to question where this knowledge comes from, three Clefairy, and one tall Clefable rear their heads from over the edge of the crater they’re in. The Cleffa around them shout and welcome them excitedly.

“Seems like they’ll be just fine,” Smiles the trainer, as the Clefairy begin to gather and play with the babies. It’s an endearing scene.

They make some quick notes, and take a few more pictures of the interactions for the records, but decide against sticking around much longer, not wanting to intrude any further into the rituals of the Pokémon.

Readying to leave, Ash feels the jumpy Cleffa pull at the his jeans. It looks up to them with shiny eyes and a pleading expression, that has Ash kneeling again to address them.

“Hey, it was nice meeting you.” He says, tickling her belly again. Then he nods towards the rest of the group. “Have a good time with your family.”

But Cleffa is shaking its head, and its small shiny eyes look as though they want to cry. Ash doesn’t know what to do.

Luckily, he doesn’t have to, because a moment later there’s a tap to his shoulder, and he raises his gaze to find Goh offering him a Poké-ball, warm smile on his face. “I think it wants _us_ to be her family,” He explains.

Ash turns back to Cleffa. “Is that so? You wanna travel with us?” The baby shrieks and nods enthusiastically.

All right, he gets the message.

He takes the Poké-ball from his boyfriend’s hand, and presses it with just enough force that it’ll open to Cleffa’s head.

He was right. It’s not much a fight.

“Cleffa’s data will be added to the Pokédex,” Informs his phone, which makes Ash chuckle, and unconsciously hiss a pointless _shh!_ to the device, lest it ruins the atmosphere.

Goh leans over to look down at the screen. He kisses the trainer’s clothed shoulder, “That’s probably the cutest Pokémon either of us has ever captured.” He notes.

Pikachu begs to differ, loudly and indignantly, which breaks the mood for good, and reminds them it’s time to leave again.

They laugh about it all the way back to the camp. As they are walking, Goh’s mind finally repairs on the events of the last hour, and how they got there in the first place.

“How did you know?” He questions, brows knitting together. “How did you know about switching the routes, or the Clefairy coming along?”

Ash looks around nervously, as if the dunes surrounding them held the answers Goh is looking for.

The flinch is enough of a response. “It’s happening again, isn’t it?” Ash doesn’t reply. Goh throws his hands in the air. “It’s happening again!” He exclaims, disbelief - and a little hurt - palpable in his tone. “Why didn’t you say anything?!” He accuses.

Ash lifts his hands in front of him, in placating surrender. “I - uh…sorry.” That’s not enough, they both know it. “I’m sorry. I was just feeling a little…”

Sensing his distress, Goh sighs and takes a deep breath. It’s two in the morning and he’s tired, but they’ve also just experienced some really amazing Cleffa sightings and rituals, that wouldn’t have been without Ash’s nudging in the right direction. He can at least try right now.

“Were you feeling…disconnected?” Offers Goh, lowering Ash’s arms with his hands, and bringing his own up to cradle the trainer’s face.

“ _Too-_ connected, actually,” He huffs a chuckle, and soldiers on through his confession. “I’ve been…I think it’s the moon stuff? Like the energy around here. I’ve been picking up on, you know… _auras_ and such. Been giving me a headache most of the day.”

Goh frowns at the last part, but nods his understanding of the situation. “You should’ve said something.” But he knows why he didn’t. Goh has a habit of being too curious about it, and Ash can’t always explain himself when it’s something he just _feels._ They get mad at each other, and Ash hates it when that happens. So he’s resorted to not talking about it altogether.

“I was gonna tell you!” Defends Ash, mistaking Goh’s silence with irritation. “But we were busy all afternoon, and then we… _got distracted,_ which actually helped!” Goh rolls his eyes to disguise a blush, and nods for Ash to continue. “I just wanted to wait until we weren’t so in the middle of…everything….and -”Goh shakes his head, positively stopping the impending rant.

“I understand that.” He says, but his eyes aren’t any less worried. “I know I drive you crazy with the questions. I’m sorry about that.” Ash opens his mouth, probably to say something nice like _it’s not like that,_ but Goh stops him again, a finger to his lips this time. “Hush. I know I do. I know you don’t like it. But you still should’ve said something, not because of me, but because I don’t want you to go all day long feeling poorly and with a headache.”

Ash looks down now. He knows better. He’s about to apologize again, and it’s stopped once more, by a soft-press to his lips. His eyes close on automatic.

Goh nuzzles his cheek when they part, “Come on, we’ll talk it out back at the camp,” He murmurs, “I’ve got some medicine for your head. Does it hurt a lot?”

Ash shakes his head no, but accepts the offered pills anyways once they are their tent, if anything because they help soothe Goh’s worries.

-0-

_[March 22nd, 3:40, Mandarin South Island, Mandarin Desert]_

“I feel a little bad for everyone else, though,” Mentions Goh, as Ash releases the newly-born Cleffa in their tent, so it can rest with them and Pikachu for the night. He pets the small Pokémon as they ready - once again - to sleep. “They were going in a different direction.” And not many seem to have made it back yet, the camp virtually empty, nothing but tents and dying fires around.

Ash shrugs, offering Cleffa a few Qualot berries Goh had brought along. “There were like…four other dunes like that one in the area, I’m sure they were able to find some.” He reasons. “Besides, I think this is the type of thing humans shouldn’t intrude so much in?” It’s phrased as a question, but Ash feels quite strongly about it. Even though they study Pokémon behavior and unravel the mysteries of their nature, some things about them should remain…theirs. Should remain respected about their realm.

Goh nods his agreement. “I get what you mean.” A yawn, and then a motion for Ash to come closer, to lay beside him in their sleeping mats, as the youngest chants-off their portable lamp.

Ash frowns, however, confused, and winds the lamp back on. “Don’t you want to log this in first?” They’ve been keeping a carefully documented journal since they arrived. It’s rare to go to bed without having all the work at least jotted down in clean notes.

Goh shakes his head. “Nah. We’ll get it in the morning. Can talk to the other people as well…” He yawns again, as he turns on his side. He stretches an arm, “Come hold me?” It’s not really a request.

Ash would never turn him down anyways.

“How’s your headache?” He asks, once the light is off again, and he’s successfully wrapped himself around Ash, one of the trainer’s hands playing mindlessly with his untied hair.

Ash leans down to kiss his forehead, “Doesn’t hurt anymore.” Maybe a little, but it’s nothing some sleep can’t cure.

Goh sighs, satisfied, and mumbles a _goodnight_ to his collarbone.

A minute passes. Then two. Then another sigh, and a sleepy mumble to _don’t forget to mention the Scorbunny on the moon in the notes tomorrow, needed for context…_

Ash chuckles, quietly, as not to disturb the sleeping Cleffa and Pikachu. He’s still not sure about the Scorbunny on the moon story holding any scientific value (or validity). But he’ll write down whatever Goh wants.

“You got it, baby,” He promises, twisting a stand of dark hair in his finger. “Now, shh…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the motif was unintentional...until it /wasn't/. story of my life.
> 
> the boys got some well-earned sleep afterwards, and so will I now, as it's nearly midnight and I have work in the morning.
> 
> chapters shouldn't be late anymore, I humbly thank you for you patience and your tuning in. comments, kudos and love are encouraged!
> 
> have a swell week x


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know that Pokémon movie, The Power of One? well, I REWROTE IT. for no reason other than because I started and then couldn't stop. also because it was fun. it's a two part chapter because it somehow ended being nearly 20K words??? (how did THAT happen - like WOW).
> 
> thank you for your patience, I know it's been a minute, this escaped me, but it's done now. your cue for the e-rated bits is at [April 7th, 23:27...] it's...kinda mild, this time around, but you've been rightfully warned.

**_[April 7th, 11:23, Shamouti Island]_ **

Ash knew about the mysteries in Shamouti long before he read them in the quest’s briefing. Ash _lived_ the mysteries and legends of Shamouti and its neighbor islands, back when he had no scientific reasoning to find in them.

As luck would have it (Er - Professor Cerise planned the list’s items _eerily_ well, and Ash realized a minute too late he’d arranged the itinerary to match exactly what their boss had wanted. Sneaky, that man.), they arrive to the island a day before the Legend Festival takes place.

It’s safe to say he’s…apprehensive - read: terrified - for what might unravel in the following days.

Oblivious to his concern, Goh thrills with the possibilities of what’s hidden in the region’s lore.

“…All the waters of the world originated here, doesn’t that sound crazy? But Professor Oak’s data suggest it might be true! Besides, now that we know more about Lugia’s migration patterns, we could justify its appearance here during these ritual days…”

Nowhere in Goh’s books does it talk about life-threatening journeys in the midst of a hurricane to find shiny spheres _,_ while legendary Pokémon lives are in danger, and some zillionaire psycho has no qualms about killing a bunch of children, as long as he gets his greedy way.

Well, it’s not written out _like that_ , at least.

Ash knows that’s not how the festival usually goes. He knows it’s a beautiful, ancient tradition cherished by the townsfolk, passed down honorably generation after generation. That’s the experience they should have this time around.

Arceus, he really hopes that’s the experience they have this time around.

He’d written to Carol about their visit, and they’d be meeting with a few of the town elders to combine the lore with the data they had. _Yes,_ they’d stay for the festival. But only as bystanders, props, hidden in the background with little to none participation. The more invisible the better.

As one of the town’s leaders, Carol can’t come meet them upon arrival, but she promises they’ll have dinner later that day. Instead there is Melody, eager to welcome them at the entrance of the hotel, all long-auburn hair and bright blue-eyes, she’s wearing a traditional dress, and her smile is so bright it matches the incandescent sun shining over Shamouti that day.

“Ah, my chosen one!” She exclaims, cheerily, throwing herself over him in a bear-hug. Weary from the ferry over, but always glad to see an old friend, Ash hugs her back and offers a sincere smile.

“Chosen one?” Musters Goh to himself, not without some alarm at the naturally with which this stranger touches _his_ boyfriend.

He’s _heard_ about Melody and Carol, but Ash doesn’t often elaborate on his previous experiences in the Orange Islands, only using his recollections when they are useful to the quest.

His train-of-thought is cut short when he sees the young woman lean over Ash and _kiss him._ On the cheek, briefly, hardly for a second.

Goh doesn’t have much time to process his jealousy, either, because suddenly this audacious lady is hopping over to him and taking his hands, excited, mirroring-blue eyes smiling to him as well. “And you must be the famous Goh!” At that, she leans over and _kisses him, too._ Goh feels himself blush and fluster, even though the action, once again, takes but a moment to be over. “Ash didn’t say you’d be _this_ handsome! Ah, your eyes are so blue!”

_Has this girl ever seen a mirror?_ Wonders Goh. Her eyes are practically as blue as the oceans they’re traveling across.

Ash clears his throat, and only then Goh realizes she’s still holding his hands, and standing dangerously close to his face, peering, curious eyes studying him. He glares at Goh pointedly.

But Melody is the one to break the hold, turning back to Ash, but only to invite Pikachu - perched on its trainer’s head - to jump into her arms. It does, and she catches him and holds him easily in one arm, tickling its belly with the other. “Cute as ever, Pikachu.” Ash rolls his eyes at his friend’s boasting, but huffs a chuckle anyways. “Follow me, gentlemen! I’ll get you settled here, and then take you with the elders!”

As if commanding a troop, and not two tired-out researchers and their Pokémon, Melody marches into the hotel with sure yet dancing-like steps.

Still confused over what the hell the last few minutes have been, Goh only blinks at her retreating body. He only snaps out of it when familiar, gloved fingers twine with his own. “Wait till you see her in ‘Festival’ mode.” It’s all Ash says, pulling at their joined hands to make Goh move.

As Ash’s worries begin to simmer down, Goh’s own pick-up. But so does his excitement.

It doesn’t take a sentient to realize there’s _energy_ in this place. And he can’t wait to uncover every last bit of it.

-0-

The hotel is on the upper-end side, a tad more elegant than what they’d usually consider, but Carol had insisted, after all, _it’s the least we can do for our hero._

Modest as he was trying to be, Ash can’t say the king-sized bed and lavish bathtub aren’t welcomed. After all, they’ve spent the last three weeks between Pokémon center bed-bunks (surprisingly, still not a good fit for two grown men), and well-worn sleeping mats inside their tent.

A bit of luxury can’t hurt.

“Did you save any other islands around here?” Says Goh, jumping face down on the bed, his body making the mattress bounce as he sinks into the impossibly plump pillows. “I could get used to this.”

Ash looks at him fondly from across the room, setting down their belongings in the closet.

“Don’t get too comfortable _now,”_ he reminds, “we’re just dropping off the stuff, still gotta head back with Melody to meet the elders.”

Goh groans, but prompts himself up on his elbows to watch Ash saunter around the room. “What was all that with Melody, by the way?” He asks, trying to come-off as innocent. “She called you the chosen one.” And then _kissed him,_ Goh hasn’t forgotten about that.

“She kissed you, too,” supplies Ash, amused.

Goh frowns and realizes he’s done it again, but the trainer pays no mind to his misstep and continues, as he digs around his backpack for a change of clothes. “It’s part of the Legend Festival’s traditions,” Ash explains. “You’ve read about it, every year there’s a ‘chosen-one’, who completes the quest across the neighbor islands and returns with the treasures.” At Goh’s nonplussed expression, the trainer sighs. “ _I_ was the chosen one, years ago, and Melody was the Festival Maiden back then, it’s part of their culture.”

Goh nods his understanding. “The kiss as well?” He asks, _mostly_ -fake jealousy in his voice, accompanied by a slight pout.

Laughing and shirtless (A view much appreciated by Goh), Ash walks to him on the bed and tips his head up with a hand, thumb caressing his chin. “I can kiss you, too, if you want.”

Eyes already on Ash’s lips, Goh nods, and leans into a searing crash of their mouths. The researcher’s hands travel up solid planes of muscle, until they loop behind equally strong shoulders, pulling Ash on top of him.

There’s some wrestling around, as they laugh and drink off each other’s lips with abandon. Goh raising goosebumps on his wake as expert hands trace Ash’s back, then pull at his hair, while he kisses the chest-point where the tags usually rest, now dangling between their bodies.

Ash holds back, and Goh whines into his mouth in protest to the chivalry. “We have to go,” he reminds again, grabbing a wandering hand by the wrist, bringing it way north of its original path, kissing the open palm.

Goh pouts. “But I want - ”

“I’ll give you _anything_ you want, baby. Anything.” Ash’s eyes are just as hungry, and he seals the promise with another bruising kiss. “But can you wait until tonight?” Goh whines again, and Ash kisses up the line of his neck to make up for the compromise. “It’s just a few more hours, yeah? It’s no fun if we rush it now.” Goh thinks he might find it entertaining anyways, but he sighs and finally gives a relenting sigh. A kiss to the cheek-bone rewards him for his patience. “I wanna take my time…hm? Make you feel good.” He whispers, and Goh’s whimper is for an entirely different reason now. “I promise I’ll take care of you.”

Goh turns his head and meets him in one last, lingering kiss, then mutters a soft-truth against his lips. “You always do.”

**[April 7th, 15:23, Shamouti Island, Shamouti Library]**

“I thought the festival was tomorrow,” expresses a confused Ash, as Melody tells them of the banquet being held that night.

“No.” She drawls on the ‘o’, playful eyes glinting as she walks around with Ash’s Cleffa in her arms. They’ve been taking her out every now and again, when it’s safe, so she can get used to the road and the world. “The _quest-day_ is tomorrow, the Festival events begin tonight,” she turns to look at the trainer, raising an eyebrow in accusation, “we did a small modification to the schedule after _a certain_ chosen one left in a hurry in the middle of the night, then almost sunk the islands to the bottoms of the ocean.”

Ash booms. “That is _not_ what happened!”

Melody waves a hand and ignores him. “Whatever, it just makes more sense this way. It’s an extra day of celebration, which is good for tourism! And it gives us more time to prepare the ceremony of the shrine.”

Goh has a hard time understanding how someone so seemingly carefree it’s next in line to lead the community. Melody is bright and rebellious, but it’s clear as the day that the people in the island love her, and they must trust her a lot, too, if they’re open to let an adolescent prepare and command the most important event of the year.

“I’ve been doing this for years,” she downplays, when Goh voices his admiration. “I’m too old to be the maiden anymore, but I know the ropes, and I enjoy the work. It’s very important for my family to keep these traditions alive.” There’s a tenderness in her voice Goh hadn’t heard up until now, but helps him comprehend why she might be a good leader, after all.

The two elders they meet welcome them as if they’d known them forever. Ash is a hero here, and since Goh is with him, he’s treated like royalty as well. They sit in library room surrounded by all the ancient history of the Orange Archipelago, preserved and protected for thousands of years, the weight of the history captured there makes the air feel ominous, and the passion with which the elders narrate the stories almost transport Goh to the exact places being depicted.

“That is why is said that all the waters of the world originated here, and it might just be that life itself began in this region. These are the legends we celebrate during our festival, and our tokens on the shrine are a promise to the legendary Pokémon, to keep honoring their protecting of our Island.”

“Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno, right?” Questions Goh.

The elder woman nods. “That’s right, the three legendary birds, each with their own island surrounding ours: Ice, Fire, and Lightning Island, where the treasures reside for our chosen one to bring back every year.”

Softly, Ash elbows Goh in the ribs. “Maybe you could get your rematch with Zapdos,” he sniggers.

With much-less delicacy, Goh elbows him right back. “Keep it down, or I’ll make you sleep in Ice Island.”

Ash shuts up, not willing to find out how serious the threat was.

The probability of the three birds actually being active during the festival isn’t low. There have been repeated sightings over the years around this time. And it is almost customary that a storm will form in the ocean between the islands some weeks before - or after - the event. With the right concentration of energy, even, it’s possible Lugia might show up.

_That’s_ an encounter Goh would like to repeat.

But all the honors and fanfare are reserved for the so mentioned ‘chosen-one’.

“It sure must be nice to be that special,” whistles Goh, as they leave the library after their meeting. They have a bit over an hour left before meeting with Melody and Carol at the festival house.

Ash eyes him carefully. “It’s… not really that big of a deal.” He tries to sound bored, not to let Goh know how thrilling it actually is. How dangerous. “It’s just one normal person, nothing special.”

“You were the chosen one, once,” Goh replies, curious as to why Ash hasn’t spoken of this adventure before.

Ash shrugs.“I’m not special.” A large list of previous events protest in his mind. He dutifully ignores them.

Goh frowns, and squeezes his hand a little tighter. “You are to me,” he offers, and when Ash casts his eyes to him again, they’re shining with open gratitude.

That’s all that matters, then.

**[April 7th, 20:35, Shamouti Island, Festival House, Ceremonial Banquet]**

The parade is impressive enough, the production much grander than Ash remembers (and he recalls being dazzled, back then). The entire town and hoards of tourists crowd around the streets in colorful traditional attire, costumes of the legendary Pokémon identify the village’s leaders, and a beautiful, white and blue dress fits to Melody’s frame like a glove, declaring her as the master of ceremonies, in charge of leading the Island through the next three days of celebration.

Goh is already in love with the culture and vibe of this town, gone for the foods they’re presented and the cheeriness of the people surrounding them. _And it’s just the beginning._

Carol is a charm, though after meeting Melody, Goh wasn’t expecting anything less. She welcomes them to the feast announcing a returning hero to the Island, that clamors and claps to a flushing but humbly accepting trainer.

Goh muses on how, three years ago, Ash wouldn’t have known what to do with all of this attention. Something about being one of the greatest and most recognized Pokémon trainers of his generation has definitely changed the way he deals with crowds. He’s a bit of a showman, which he learned under Leon’s tutelage, but he’s got his own shtick going on. Less elaborate, more down-to-earth on its charm, but still impressive in its sheer power, fit of a to-be Pokémon master.

The night is dark and clouded, and it seems as though it’s about to rain, but Goh feels safe next to his partner, surrounded by the artificial lights and the fire andthe warmth of all this people. Nobody affected by the threatening weather.

Melody claims the spotlight, as she narrates the stories of her ancestors, and speaks of maintaining tradition and honoring their elders.

“As you all know, a festival maiden from our family carries the honor of pointing to our chosen one.” All eyes are on her, and she moves around the stage at the room-center with practiced ease. “Beautiful and _still young_ as I am - ”- A crow, from Carol, that has Melody frowning and rolling her eyes menacingly. “ _\- Ahem,_ well, I am no longer of the age to assist on this great favor, but promising Lena here, our cousin, is ready to take onto the task with as much as grace as I did on previous times.”

The young girl, who doesn’t look to be past ten years of age, walks up to the stage and holds Melody’s hand for guidance, to which Melody responds by showing her to the crowd and elevating another round of applause.

Goh is enraptured, committing every bit of the ceremony to memory. He feels giddy, and like he might combust from all the energy roaming around.

“Now, dear Lena, please look at the mighty men with us tonight, let your heart guide you and give you clarity, so you can find our chosen-one for this year’s quest.”

The almost-forgotten ocarina begins to chant its song, and Ash relives the adventures of a decade ago for the umpteenth time that day. Perhaps on a lighter note than the previous ones - the song always _did_ have sort of a calming effect.

Lena’s eyes become focused, and they scout the groups with keen attention. Everyone around her standing a little taller, trying to look their best.

Expect for Ash, who hides behind a munching Pikachu, and pretends to be a still statue like the ones decorating the Festival House.

“Relax,” whispers Carol to his left. “You can’t be the chosen-one twice.”

He does breath a little easier after that. But his tension spikes up again when he sees young, dangerous eyes in a small frame walking up to _their_ table.

She’s approaching _them_ , and while Ash trembles with fear, Goh does so with excitement.

It’s not brown eyes that she’s staring into when she reaches her destination, but blue.

Oh. Oh, no.

“Your eyes are as blue as the oceans that surround us,” she says, improvised words filled with poetry. “And in them shine bravery and strength. You. You are our chosen one.”

The crowd explodes with cheers, while Goh processes this revelation. He looks up to Melody for a cue, looks to his side for Ash to tell him what’s next.

But all Ash is as astonished as he is, and not very useful at the moment.

He _does_ turn to glare at Carol, her green eyes mischievous as she shrugs. “Hey, no-one said _he_ couldn’t get picked.”

“I’m the chosen one,” says Goh, and while part of Ash wants to burst his bubble and tell him that being 'the chosen one' isn’t exactly a walk in the park, he also sees a characteristic glint in the blue eyes that look like the ocean (or whatever). And he can’t bring himself to ruin that joy.

He lives for it.

“You are,” is what he says, as he holds Goh’s hand under the table in quiet congratulation.

Until Melody jolts down of the stage and joins their table as well, standing next to a proud-looking Lena.

“I’ll take it from here,” she winks to the little girl, who nods and holds her hand again. Melody stretches out a hand to Goh, who takes it and finds himself yanked forward and standing. “We have a chosen one!” She exclaims, and the people break into applause again.

She motions for them to settle, and when the noise subdues, continues. “Our brave hero here shall complete the Islands quests, and bring back to Shamouti Island the treasures hidden in our neighbor islands of Ice, Fire, and Thunder!” More clamors, that have Goh crouching into his space. Melody squeezes his hand for comfort, the familiarity of when Ash does the same thing soothing him immediately. “Now, we feast and celebrate our hero tonight, wish him farewell for the journey ahead!”

Then the party unfolds. And Goh doesn’t feel the hours tick by until, from the corner of his eye, he notices Pikachu’s eyes have begun to betray him. It’s been surrounded by young maidens most of the evening, soaking up the attention. Cinderace and Lucario, not fans of loud crowds - unless cheering for _them_ \- have been called into their Poké-ball for the night.

He grabs another fruity drink, and walks up to where Ash and Melody seem to be caught in an argument.

“It’s not like _I_ chose him, Ash! Pick it up with Lena.”

Ash scoffs. “What, the ten year old?”

Melody shrugs, and feigns innocence.

Goh chooses that moment to step in, hand finding a home on Ash’s lower back. Without the hat on Ash’s head, the height difference is slightly more appreciated, and Melody does a double take when she sees their _chosen one_ of this year standing next to the former one.

One thought crosses her mind: _Damn, they are devastatingly handsome_. Individually, sure. But together it just…it takes her breath away. And she hopes her boyfriend - somewhere in the vicinity - won’t make an appearance right now. It’d be too much, she wouldn’t know how to lie.

Ash is all open smiles and bright brown eyes, enclosed by that body he picked up somewhere, muscled up and still charmingly clumsy, still too blunt for his own good, but in a way that’s endearing.

Goh, she has just met, but it’s safe to say he is… _well._ He is handsome as hell. Tall? Piercing blue eyes? Long hair? _and_ knows how to dress? Enough to make a girl a little flustered. He’s considerably more collected than Ash, as far as she can tell, somewhat reserved, but he’d been just as excited and proud of being ‘the chosen one’ as she remembers Ash himself was, all those years ago.

She can tell there’s a similar fire to them, however, on what motivates them, so it doesn’t come as a surprise how they make such a good pair.

“What’s got you so worked up?”

He’s asking Ash, but Melody takes upon the answer. “Our dear Ash here insists on joining our chosen one on the journey tomorrow.”

Ash rolls his eyes.

Goh blinks. “Oh, um…is that - ”

“All I’m saying is, I’ve already done the quest, I can _help._ ”

“The quest is for _the_ chosen one, _”_ reminds Melody, stern in her voice.

“We’re a package deal,” insists Ash, lacing an arm around Goh’s waist, pulling him in for emphasis.

Goh blinks again. Then considers.

It’s almost funny, because up until this very moment, he hadn’t thought about Ash _not_ being there for the quest.

While Melody and Carol filled him on the specifics, he’d pictured Ash all throughout. Helping him with the rocks in Ice Island, while finding the way across Thunder Island… He hadn’t - not for one moment - thought about doing any of it alone.

Not because he believes he _couldn’t_ do it alone. He’d spent years walking into caves and alternate dimensions virtually on his own - aided by his Pokémon and his knowledge - but these days… it’s just the way things are. Wherever they go, they go together.

Ash is listing the reasons why he should join. And Goh puts an end to the rant by clearing his throat.

“I think, er… I think it’d be best if we travel together tomorrow.” He turns to look at Ash, and offers him a small smile before turning back to Melody. “I’d be useful to be accompanied by my partner… _research_ partner,” he corrects, red tinting his cheeks.

Albeit pointlessly, for Melody looks up to them with a knowing tilt of her head.

She lifts her hands in surrender. “All right, well. There are no rules against you bringing someone. Former hero here did so himself,” she says, nodding to Ash.

The trainer sighs out his relief. Goh feels a little lighter as well.

“But it _must be_ the chosen one who delivers the treasures to the shrine,” she reminds, seriousness returning to her tone. “It’s imperative to our traditions.”

Goh nods his understanding, meeting her with equal seriousness. “I promise.”

**[April 7th, 23:27, Shamouti Island, Shamouti Hotel Suite]**

Goh may have promised to take upon a mythical quest tomorrow. But Ash has his own promise to fulfill tonight.

A passed out Pikachu is carefully placed to sleep in the small living couch, and as they cross the threshold to their room in the suite, Ash pulls Goh into his chest and traces up the path from his neck to his ear with humid, open mouthed kisses.

Goh shivers. Ash smirks. “So, what is that you want, oh, mighty chosen one?” He teases.

“You’re an idiot,” chortles Goh.

As punishment for the insult, Ash pushes him into the nearest wall, caging him immediately with tight hands to his hips, lips back on his neck. “What do you want?” He repeats, darker this time.

Goh stammers. “Y - You,” he replies, overwhelmed by the sudden feeling of _Ash_ all over him.

“You have me,” assures the trainer, eyes darkening with truth (and arousal).

“Your mouth,” completes Goh, hand coming up to Ash’s face to cup his cheek, he tilts his head down for a kiss, and Ash meets him halfway, licking into his mouth, and stealing what little air remained in his lungs.

Ash muses an - obscenely - eager _yes_ into the kiss, then promptly drops to his knees, making quick work of unbuckling Goh’s belt and pulling down his trousers.

And the boxer briefs, too. No reason to wait.

Above him, Goh releases a whimper, his hand coming up to Ash’s head, discarding the hat and burying long fingers in dark, messed-up hair. Since Goh knows exactly how to rile him up, he pulls at the held locks with menacing force.

And because Ash knows how to get him right back, he breaths out, slow and humid, right over Goh’s hardening length, that is posed in front of him practically begging to be touched.

But there’s _another_ part of Goh’s body that’s been calling to him.

Goh said his mouth. He didn’t say _where._

His hands come up from Goh’s ankles, pads of his fingers caressing the skin. Ash feels his boyfriend shudder as he tentatively tickles the back of a knee, hand tightening around his hair unconsciously, his breath hitching in anticipation. All good reactions.

“Ash…” Ah, that sounds a little pleading. Good.

Ash looks up sweetly, but says nothing. Then he leans down again, kisses the skin above Goh’s right knee, tiny pecks of his lips tracing the path up, up, up, until his mouth is pressed into the inner thigh, his hand holds that same thigh from the back, the other moves from the opposite thigh to hold at Goh’s left hip.

Then he hoists the right thigh over his shoulder without warning. The movement doesn’t surprise Goh as much as the sudden _bite_ does.

_“Ash.”_ That sounds more reproving than anything else. Not quite what Ash was going for, but he’ll take it.

The hand still fondling his hair pulls again, this time no doubt in reprimand. But all it gathers is a low keen from Ash. He laves at the bite-mark for a moment, then nuzzles the skin with unfitting tenderness, while his other hand comes down from Goh’s hip - he won’t fall. Probably. - to caress the left thigh.

Goh sighs out, and Ash knows he’s forgiven.

_“Ash.”_ Yeah, he feels desperate, too.

It’s hard to ignore, Goh’s fully hardened and leaking length right in front of him. Momentarily done with his own quest, Ash decides it’s time to reward the - _his -_ chosen one for his patience.

“ - got you. I’ve got you.” Promises Ash, mouth salivating at the sight, already opening and leaning.

His ears fill with the sound of a loud, unkempt moan, followed by a string of whimpers and mewling noises, as he begins to bob his head up and down, the hand on his hair and constant pressure and a bit of a guidance. Not that Ash needs any.

Goh knows (because he’s been in this position many-a-times to keep count) that he won’t last, not when Ash licks at the underside of his cock with so much finesse, takes him in nearly all the way into his mouth on the first try (the inexistent gag-reflex is truly a gift, he’s learned), and then he does _that_ thing with his tongue. Goh’s head positively _spins_.

Sensing a fall from the already unsteady position, Goh presses back into the wall, searching for purchase on the _flat_ surface with his free hand. Naturally, it’s fruitless, and panic flashes on his face for a moment, until he feels Ash’s own hand come up, take his, and place it on his other shoulder, he holds it there for a moment, pushing into their pressed hands to demonstrate. _Lean on me,_ he’s saying, _I’ve got you._

Goh knows it’s not the moment of romantic declarations, but he feels strangely endeared by the action, by Ash’s thoughtfulness even when he is otherwise engaged.

Then his thoughts fly out the window because Ash does _that_ thing _again._ It rips a whimper from his throat and both his hands pressing roughly into their contact points. When Ash moans around his length, it’s hard to tell whether it was from the hair-pull, or the nails digging into his shoulders. Maybe both.

“ _Ash,”_ Goh hiccups, head shaking side-to-side, eyes shut (but fighting to breach open, he’d love to see Ash right now). “Please. _Please.”_

And those are _just the words_ Ash had been waiting for. The right tone, too.

Why, he’s eager to please.

He’s held a steady hand to Goh’s thigh on his shoulder, to ensure they don’t tumble down the wall and onto the floor on any sudden moves, but he forgoes the precaution for a moment, and inches that same hand forward and to the back of Goh’s thigh, until it reaches his backside and his butt. He kneads the flesh for a moment, lets his fingers play grope for a moment, while his tongue continues teasing the head of Goh’s cock with kitten-like licks, just to keep him distracted.

But then his fingers circle the opening of Goh’s entrance from behind, and he takes him back fully in his mouth just in time to catch his full load, that explodes in the back of his throat as one last cry breaks from above.

Then Ash is coming, too, spilling into his hand with a low-groan, mouth still full. His pants are hardly pulled down and he’s probably leaking into them, but he decides against assessing the mess in the benefit of, first, swallow down (which he does, dutifully, as his other hand comes back to once again hold them steady), and, second, watch Goh’s blissed out face as he comes down from his high (he’s seen it hundreds of times, but it’s not the type of thing one ever tires of enjoying).

And oh, it’s a sight to behold. Cheeks flushed, eyes closed, sweat shining on his forehead and neck, tired pants leaving his swollen lips - from the earlier kissing, Ash hopes, and not from any lip-biting. There’d be consequences to that - Goh always gets a bit floaty, blinks back to reality slowly and sometimes a little deaf, which is amusing, but all the more a reason for Ash to be extra-diligent with after-care rituals.

Goh is vulnerable in these moments, and Ash takes as much responsibility for looking after him now as he does for getting him to such state in the first place.

As he can be rather clumsy post-orgasm, Ash makes sure to be careful as he pulls down the leg over his shoulder. He kisses the thigh a few times, comfortingly. Goh rewards him with the first signs of responsiveness, the hand that had gone limp over his other shoulder squeezes once. Good.

Then a sound. A little, whimper-like noise that it’s quiet, but that travels just fine to Ash’s ears. Then a twitch, a shiver going down his spine, Ash realizes. He’s mostly naked and sweaty in the middle of the night, cooling off from overwhelming heat.

“ _Ash.”_ That’s a plea, too. For something entirely different than before. Though not so much in its principle.

_Take care of me._

The trainer takes that as his cue to move. He stands slowly, as if not to startle Goh. He cleans his other hand on his shirt and chooses to deal with the consequences of that later; right now, he needs to maneuver his tired-out boyfriend to the en-suite, and somehow cajole him into a shower.

“Ash…”

Why, that’s just a whine.

Ash chuckles. “I know, baby. I know. Come here,” he coos, pulling Goh into his arms in a hug. He kisses the line up his neck with short, brisk pecks, until Goh giggles as well. “How ‘bout a shower, hm?”

Goh scrunches his face, but as his physical senses return, so does his common sense. A shower is only natural after sex, it’s also the best thing to do after such a long day out. And a party. With the day they’ve got ahead tomorrow, it’s also the wisest thing to go to bed as relaxed (and clean) as possible.

So he slowly nods his head in agreement, and, while he doesn’t understand why Ash looks so relieved, he’s glad to see him happy.

Something catches up to him.

“Wait - did you…?”

Ash graces him with a soft smile to his concern. “Don’t worry, I took care of myself.” To that, Goh pouts, feeling slightly put-out by leaving Ash to fend for himself. He should be better than that, especially when Ash is always so - “ - Didn’t have to do much, either, your pretty noises did most of the work.” _That_ makes an unrequested chill go down Goh’s spine, it’s almost dangerous, whispered like that into the shell of his ear.

Might give a guy ideas.

“Shame I missed the show,” Goh says then, just because he likes the way Ash himself trembles at his words. The trainer leans back with narrowed eyes, and Goh feels back in his body enough to be the one to taunt the next round “Shower, you said?” He attempts a cheesy wink that has Ash rolling his eyes and laughing, but also guiding his wobbly body into the bathroom.

Goh pays back in earnest.

**[April 8th, 11:13, Fire Island]**

They make it to the shrine near the volcano with relative ease, the isle empty and calm aside from some shy fire-types that hide from their little expedition. Goh feels a pang of guilt at their reaction, never a fan of disturbing Pokémon in their natural habitat. He adores learning from them, sure, but making them uncomfortable doesn’t sit with him. He surely wouldn’t want strangers parading around his place acting as if it were their own.

His mind diverts to their apartment then, and how it’s been nearly a month since they’ve been away, he thinks of how it must look right now, closed down and with dust adhering to every surface (it doesn’t bother him that much, the dust part, it’s not irreversible, and the sight of Ash with dustpan and an apron cleaning around the apartment is borderline hilarious). But he also thinks of how cold it probably feels, with the windows shut closed for so long, the appliances unused (the blender works on whims, and the toaster is prone to mild electrocutions. Their heating system _sucks)._ He knows their plants are all safe and sound with Chloe, but he still feels bad about leaving them alone (Ash tends to them with a love and patience that would make his mother proud. Sings to them, even, in a way that is both terrible and endearing at the same time).

They’ve been sleeping in tents more often than not, so he inevitably misses their bed. Shaped to fit their bodies by reliable memory foam (Goh had thought it was an unnecessary expense, but is now glad Ash talked him into it). The small bedside tables, Goh’s with a picture of Ash, him, and their Pokémon roaster at Cerise Park, next to his reading glasses, and his much beloved Pokémon journal. Ash’s side has a different book every other week (and Goh’s mind helpfully notes how Ash hasn’t been reading much on this trip. Is it lack of time? Has he not found any interesting books? Ash doesn’t like long lore encyclopedias, but there _is_ a type of literature he usually enjoys …) - there’s also a small cacti on his bedside that he’s been nursing for months. But that one, too, has gone with Chloe for the time being.

The apartment is nothing special, it’s not fancy or overboard, it’s small, the appliances are faulty, and they hardly spend much time there as it is, because they’re always in and out of the lab or in and out other cities and regions.

Goh yearns to be back.

He stops for a moment to take a picture of the shrine that awaits a few steps ahead, and as he does, he feels Ash’s chin press with mild-force into his shoulder.

He offers a questioning _hm?,_ while he turns his phone to get a better angle.

Ash blinks innocently. “You’re quiet,” it’s all he notes.

Goh snaps one last picture, then pats Ash’s cheek comfortingly. “I’m just a little nervous about this whole thing.” It’s not a lie, technically. He’s been nervous since they left in the morning.

He decides against burdening Ash with his home-sickness for now. They’ve got bigger issues to focus on.

Ash looks like he doesn’t buy it, but hums and nods and pulls away to keep walking, hand loosely holding Goh’s own as they close to the shrine.

“You’re doing great, chosen one.” It’s part teasing, part genuine reassurance. Goh lightens immediately.

But he feels unease climb him again some moments later. They’re a mere staircase away from the first treasure, yet have encountered virtually no obstacles on their way.

Even if it’s just the first quest of three, shouldn’t this have been more difficult?

“I thought they said Moltres guarded the treasure?”

Ash frowns, Pikachu extending a concerned _pika?_ over his shoulder. “I don’t think so?” He replies to his companion. Melody hadn’t said anything of incidents in years prior. “Maybe it’s just not around.” He says to Goh (and to Pikachu).

Which is still strange, but not necessarily implies that something has gone terribly wrong. The Pokémon had been wary, but not distressed. And Ash isn’t feeling particularly perceptive today, but even with a superficial tap to his evasive abilities, he can tell the energy in the island isn’t dangerous.

He shrugs. “Eh, don’t think too much about it?”

Goh pouts. “I guess…”

Though it’s probably a bit of a letdown for Goh, who’d be so looking forward to meeting a legendary Pokémon. And Ash too feels the itch for what would’ve definitely been a powerful battle.

So he backpedals. “Hey, Moltres is probably resting somewhere near the crater.” Goh sighs, a disappointed little sound that squeezes Ash’s heart for all its worth. “…But I know Zapdos wouldn’t miss that rematch,” he says, hoping the memory sparked by the comment will cheer his partner back up.

Blue eyes flash, and Goh nods with renewed enthusiasm before heading to the shrine.

**[April 8th, 13:36, Lightning Island]**

But Zapdos is nowhere to be found, either.

Lightning island has a complicated topology, rocky and unkind, and it takes Golem and and Lucario ’s help to get around some of the sharpest edges. Goh considers flying, but a nasty storm is forming above them, and he’d rather not risk hurting their flying-types.

Ash isn’t charmed at discovering the altar near the chasm has been restored.

“Couldn’t they have put this somewhere else?” He bemoans, as he sees Goh walk towards the orb with measured steps. The terrain isn’t any more stable here, in fact, it looks slightly cracked. The weight of that rock-shrine on the very edge can’t be helping.

He quietly pleads for Goh to walk a little faster.

“Pika…” Yeah, definitely.

“But it’s not… do you feel anything dangerous?” Pikachu shakes its head. A raised eyebrow to Lucario and Cinderace gives him the same negative response.

There’s nothing particularly off in the environment. This island has a charged energy to it, but Ash presumes that’s only natural, since a literal _god-of-thunder_ lives here. They’ve met Zapdos before, all powerful and imposing, almost crushing on its energy, and while the island does have that imposing vibe to it, Ash can’t quite fee _l the_ Zapdos near them.

Chances are it would’ve confronted them already. Zapdos would have no qualms about attacking if it felt threatened, or if it found strangers roaming its domains. And yet, once more, they’ve made it all the way to the shrine with impressive ease.

“How’s your energy, buddy? You tired?” Pikachu shakes its head, a healthy spark coming from its checkmarks in demonstration. If anything, he’s recharged from the island’s own magnetic power.

That’s good. But it’s definitely strange that both Moltres _and_ Zapdos are gone.

Goh thinks so, too, if the look on his face as he walks back to safety is any indication.

Ash releases a breath he didn’t notice he was holding, more worried than he wanted to admit at seeing his partner standing so close to an abyss.

“Ash…”

“Yeah.”

“Can you feel anything?”

The trainer shakes his head. “Not really. But none of them sense anything, either,” he nods to the Pokémon, who are all wearing similar confused expressions.

Goh considers. “I think we found ourselves another mystery to solve,” he finally says, and Ash feels the familiar thrill of adventure under his skin.

Treasure secured, they decide to do a run of as much land as they can before three pm, the time they agree is the latest they should leave to Ice Island. It’s not long until then, but it would at least grant them a clearer picture of what might be happening here.

A few things they know for sure:

  1. No psychos have tried to kidnap or otherwise harm the legendary birds in nearly a decade. (“ _that only happened the once. Your boyfriend sure likes calling trouble to himself, you should consider getting a new one - ” “Hey!”)_
  2. The Pokémon living in both islands act a little nervous around them, but aren’t hostile nor confrontational, and the electric types in Lightning Island have actually been more welcoming, an Electabuzz even coming forward from near the shrine to greet Pikachu.
  3. There are no visible signs of violence, no burnt out or lightning struck trees, no distressed cries for help from either legendary bird.
  4. This is weird as fuck.



And Ash is two seconds away from giving Melody _a point,_ because it seems a little too convenient that the year he happens to be in the region again for this celebration is also the year something goes askew.

But he’s not the ‘chosen-one’ this year, and this could all very well be a coincidence.

Originally, he’d been concerned Goh would be disappointed in his quest, since it wasn’t the epic battles and imminent danger they had been hoping for ( _Goh_ had been hoping for. Ash could do without the dead-wish this time around), but now, as this unsolved mystery rose in front of them, he could see the distinguished glint of excitement that any good-puzzle would put on his partner’s eyes.

Battles were exhilarating, but discovering something new was ever-entrancing to Goh, and that’s exactly what they’d stumbled upon today.

So maybe not a coincidence, after all.

Still, weird as fuck.

“There’s something we can try,” muses Ash, as they munch through their packed sandwiches on their walk back to the shore.

Goh trades some crisps for a bite, and questions him with a raised brow and a nod.

“Back in Shamouti Island, there’s… there _was_ this Slowking, last time. It’s sort of - the guardian of the treasures, I guess.” Who is to say if it’s still there, but he figures it’s worth a shot. They don’t have much else to go on with at the moment. “It’s a talking Slowking.”

Goh thumbs off a smear of mustard from Ash’s bottom lip, feeds him another seaweed crisp, and says: “Let’s go.”

**[April 8th, 15:25, Shamouti Island, Shamouti Island Shrine]** ****

Since they’re not expected to return until nighttime, and because Ash remembers just enough as to get around the island unnoticed, they make it to the Shrine with only a few townsfolk repairing on their presence.

It’s heavily decorated and ready, awaiting the return of the chosen-one and the treasures. But there’s nobody guarding the area.

“The festival is still going on downtown,” reasons Goh. They’d seen some of it as they snuck by, costumes, food-stands and small parades overtaking the town. A part of him almost laments they’re missing all that. But then he remembers: it’s all because of what _he_ \- _they_ are doing.

“You’re one treasure short,” says a voice behind Goh, as he carefully places the two collected orbs in the corresponding stands.

The researcher turns minutely, and looks at what is, indeed, a talking Slowking.

“Uh - ” He takes an involuntary step back. Immediately by his side, Ash steadies him with a hand to his back.

“We haven’t been to Ice Island yet,” explains the champion. “But, Moltres and Zapdos are missing. Do you know what happened to them?”

Slowking blinks at them, and wears the same calm, unassuming expression that Ash remembers exasperated him nine years ago, too.

“Ah,” it says, with seeming infinite patience. “Young chosen one, I see you have found your mate.”

Goh’s eyes widen. Ash flushes.

“This - this is Goh. He’s actually the ‘chosen-one’ for this year’s quest, so…”

Slowking nods politely to Goh, then reiterates. “And a strong match, too, I see. Arceus must have some important plans for you two.”

“What - ”

“It’s not what you suspect,” interrupts the Pokémon. “The legendary birds Moltres and Zapdos are gone from their islands, but they are not in danger, as you think.”

“They are not?” Questions Goh, addressing Slowking for the first time. It’s certainly a relief, that. But then…

“You will find your answer in the last island, where the mighty Articuno resides. I advise you be quiet, however, it’s most important to be discreet at a moment like this.”

Great, more riddles. Just what they needed. “A moment…like this?”

Slowking blinks again, and it’s obvious he won’t be answering any more questions.

With a sigh and a grateful bow of the head, they take their leave from the area.

“Young master.” Ash halts, Goh a few steps ahead and descending the risk, with Pikachu right behind him.

The trainer turns, questioning look in his face.

Slowking’s impassive expressions breaks into a genuine smile, small but meaningful. “A bond that strong, while powerful on its own, requires a union ritual to be immortalized.”

It takes a moment for Ash to understand it’s talking about him. About _Goh and him._ “ _What?”_ He asks again, more urgently this time. “Um, what do you…? … _what_?”

Annoyingly tranquil, the Pokémon replies. “I believe a wedding ceremony would be the human equivalent.” Ash doesn’t get to process his shock at those words, because suddenly he sees something flash in Slowking’s eyes, a warning that Ash can’t quite decode. “But in time, of course. When the right moment comes. You are already bonded.”

Ash blinks. “Bonded?”

“Your mate,” repeats Slowking, “fated bonds are eternal.”

A lifetime of so called ‘fate’ throwing him into danger has made Ash wary. All previous instances of being the ‘chosen-one’ for this and for that rear in the back of his mind again, this time too uncomfortable to ignore.

He should be ecstatic to hear that him and Goh are fated, and that, apparently, they’re bonded forever. But instead, it makes him feel as though he’s being manipulated, which in turn makes him angry.

For anything else - taxing as it is - he can be their chosen one. Fine.

But he won’t take anyone - anything - telling him he ought to love Goh because it’s written in some book. Because it’s meant to accomplish something.

As if.

“We are not…” It’s much, much purer than that. The mere suggestion that he loves Goh because he _must,_ it’s infuriating. “ - it’s not for some prophecy’s sake,” he defends, words coming out much weaker than he wished.

Slowking tilts its head curiously, as if he couldn’t imagine an alternative. “Fated bonds are eternal.” It repeats.

When Ash is about to scream for him to elaborate, Goh calls his name. It’s been a minute.

“Coming!” He chants back, and gives Slowking a curt nod before turning around, chasing after his partner’s voice.

When Goh questions what held him back, Ash replies with a _nothing_ that Goh files as a _later._ He doesn’t push. He’s got his own worries to unpack, but right now they are on a mission with ticking down clock, a mystery still unsolved. A promise of adventure ahead.

He knows, because experience has proven again and again, that there’s nothing quite like the thrill of the unknown to qualm both of their worries away. ****

**[April 8th, 16:15, Ice Island]** ****

“This storm is gonna give us trouble, heading back,” notes Goh, as they make their way through the forest part of the Island, the mountain that rises in the middle impressive, screaming for them to stay away, and at the same time issuing a calling.

_I’m here,_ it says, _what you’re looking for, is here._

Ash hums his agreement, or just his acknowledgement, it’s hard to tell. He’s gone unusually quiet after meeting Slowking, and Goh knows that something in those two minutes he was alone with the Pokémon is to blame for his sudden mood shift.

He also knows the conversation is pending, and will remain so until they are done with today.

As he pushes his internal conflict aside, Ash pulls a hoodie out of his backpack.

“Here, put this on,” Ash says, offering it to Goh. “It’s only gonna get colder as we go deeper in.”

Goh blinks at the garment, as if he’d never seen it before. Then he looks up to Ash, who keeps pushing the hoodie forward for him to take.

Goh huffs out, mortified and full. “I love you,” he breathes.

Ash snorts in response. “Over a hoodie?” He quips, amusement in his tone.

Goh nods, and finally takes the coat with one hand, uses the other one to pull Ash in from the back of his neck, kissing him breathless.

“I love you,” he repeats, then: “Thank you.”

Ash smiles brightly at that, reclaims another kiss, and urges him to _put the damn hoodie on, you’re gonna get cold._

Goh had already been cold, since before they landed on the island, the crisp air hitting their faces as they flew on Dragonite’s back already several degrees below his liking. But he hadn’t said anything. He’d forgotten to pack a coatand there was no use in complaining.

But of course Ash would think of him. He always does.

He’s packed one for himself as well, with a small poké-ball embroidered in the upper-middle, a gift from Goh’s grandmother last year, when the first Winter back in Vermillion had nearly frozen him to death. Or so Ash claimed, Goh suspects the dramatics were a bit exaggerated, but Ash was a bit of a favorite in his family household, and they gladly tended to him and showered him with hot cocoa’s and warm gloves and coats for him to brave the Winter (honestly, _so dramatic.)_ Never-you-mind that it was Goh’s first Winter in Vermillion in _years_ as well, all he was given by hot cocoa, and probably only because he was glued to Ash’s side every time.

Pikachu breaks their little moment with a teasing _Pika-pi,_ snapping them back to the task at hand and out of each other’s embrace. Ash laughs, spirits lifting and brightening the cold air around them.

But before Goh can pull too far or attempt to continue the quest, Ash holds onto his hand, thumb caressing the underside of his fourth finger. His eyes flash with intensity as he replies.“I love you, too.”

Goh smiles. “I know.” And if he ever has any doubts, all he has to do is look into Ash’s eyes. It’s all written there, open and honest. Just like him.

**[April 8th, 16:50, Ice Island]**

The journey to the Island’s mountain isn’t particularly hard, there’s constant rumbling and lightning coming from above, thanks to the storm that has fully formed. Still, the rain that falls is only a drizzle, and neither of them worries much about it at the moment.

Getting around the tunnels inside the mountain becomes easier with Crobat’s supersonic, and Cinderace’s grasp on ground shifts, which helps them identify where the most movement is coming from, and therefore, which paths they should follow to reach the exit.

At the very least, the mystery of the missing legendary birds is over.

Why-ever did Slowking suggest they were quiet puzzles Ash, for at the summit of the mountain there is nothing but rampaging havoc.

Ash gulps. “Goh? If we die here, I just want you to know that I meant it back there, I _really_ love you.”

Goh ignores him, but tries to keep them both alive by pulling a shocked Ash into promising safety behind a large rock.

They’re all here, at the top of Ice Island’s mountain, flying around each other and giving _strikingly powerful_ displays of their strength.

To Ash, it looks nothing like the experience from a decade ago. Well, it’s _exactly like it,_ in the way Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno are flocking together and releasing beams of fire, lightning and ice. But they don’t… it doesn’t _feel_ dangerous. Not even with how imposing they are.

Of course, should they be caught by any of the attacks, they’d be dead on the spot. So Ash stays resolutely still as the display unfolds in front of them. It’s far enough behind this rock that no attacks will reach them (yet), and neither of the Pokémon seems to have perceived them (…yet).

“Take a picture and let’s get out of here,”Ash hisses, to his mesmerized partner.

Goh scrunches his face. “What? No. No, I still have to get the treasure.”

That’s not happening, decides Ash. Because the treasure is all the way over on the shrine, which is at the other side of where three of the most powerful Pokémon in existence are flying in circles and attacking a -

“What _are_ they attacking, anyways?”

“What do you mean?” Prompts Goh, taking his phone out to document the moment.

But Ash takes the phone from him almost immediately, it earns him a _hey!_ that he dismisses with a a shake of his head. “ _Look,”_ insists the trainer, as he zooms in with the device’s camera, “they’re not attacking each other, only that spot, over and over. What is it?”

It’s hard to tell, because the birds won’t stop attacking it with might and all that’s visible is clouds of smoke, flashes from the attacks and _light._

Blinding light. Emanating from the impact point.

“They’re not destroying it,” muses the champion.

“Maybe they don’t want to destroy it?” Proposes Goh, eyes narrowing in the direction of the Pokémon.

It takes half a side glance for Ash to recognize Goh has gone into full problem-solving mode, the wheels in his head turning a mile a minute while his eyes asses every last item on their environment.

It’s, admittedly, very impressive, even when Ash has seen him do this hundreds of times. He’s laser focused on the issue at hand, searching for answers where most wouldn’t even think to look, and it’s in these moments that Ash remembers he’s standing next to one of the brightest minds of their generation (Professor Oak’s words, not his, though he shares the sentiment. Also Professor Rowan’s words, and Professor Cerise’s, _and_ Professor Ivy said something along those lines, too, some weeks ago. And of course Professor’s Burnet and Kukui fan his ego all the time. Hell, doesn’t Goh has a special plaque made in his name at the Aether Foundation? For all the discoveries he made while he was there?).

But Ash quietly prides himself in knowing all this, way before any renowned scientists were praising Goh for his mind. Goh has always been brilliant in his eyes, and he knows how hard he has worked to make it seem so easy. Ash is amongst the few privileged people who have seen him _grow_ into the mastermind he’s considered these days, and it’s not something he takes for granted.

Because he’s spent nearly a decade by Goh’s side, it’s also quite easy to tell when he’s figured it out. Which would be around…now.

“What’s going on, then?” Asks the trainer, nudging a shoulder to his partner’s.

“I… I think that’s an egg,” declares Goh, voice filled with amazement.

“Pika-chu?”

The researcher shakes his head. “It’s a - I think it’s trapped in something, maybe a rock? Agh, I can’t see anything from here,” he surges forward a bit.

Ash immediately pulls him back. “Well, you’re not going _there_ to find out.”

What most people ignore is that Goh can be quite the idiot, too, recklessly putting himself in harm’s way for the sake of knowledge.

_You’re one to talk,_ will taunt Goh.

Which, _point._ But Ash is still not sitting around to watch his literal life-parter run towards imminent death. He’s not the genius, but he’s definitely got a bit more wit than that, thank you very much.

Goh frowns. “Ash.”

“ _Goh.”_ Stubborn idiot.

A beat of silence, unyielding blue challenging determined brown.

“Pika-chu.”

Ah. He’s right. This is a lost battle, and Ash knows plenty about those.

With a sigh, he relents. “Just… go. Get the treasure,” he says, “we’ll divert the attacks. Keep you safe.”

The fight drawn out of him as well, Goh leans in and presses a kiss to Ash’s forehead. “I know you will.” He wouldn’t feel brave enough to try this if he didn’t believe that.

“ _Don’t_ stop to see what’s going on there!”Ash calls, when Goh begins to sprint.

“I won’t!”

He’s already going dangerously close to where Articuno just aimed an ice-beam.

Cinderace is with him, which is relieving, but decidedly not enough when facing _three_ legendary Pokémon. With another sigh and a nod to his companion (whose cheek-marks spark in anticipation and an energy surge), Ash adjusts his hat and readies to fight.

Perhaps Ash is an irredeemable idiot as well, who’s to say. All he knows is that, as the familiar thrilling sensation of battle settles within him, the only thing in his mind is to keep going, to see how far they can take it, how powerful can his attacks can be, how can he best use the environment to amp their impact.

_This_ is where he thrives. And he’s sure as hell not failing when something as important - the _most_ important - as Goh is on the line.

“Pikachu, electroweb to the ice beams. Lucario, throw an aura-wave right behind it!” Faintly, at the distance, he can see the dot that has become Goh moving towards the shrine, registers Cinderace using an ember attack to rid some ice blocks.

Too focused on keeping the attacks away from his friends, Ash doesn’t notice the storm breaking open for good, not until the wind blows his hat off, at least.

Still, he has little time to repair on his drenched state, because Moltres has caught up to their presence, and is quickly approaching with alarming speed.

“Thunderbolt!” He calls, but Pikachu is a second behind, having just counterattacked a lightning beam that nearly got Cinderace.

Well, there are worse ways to go.

It never hits.

Pikachu runs to his side and _shrieks,_ which prompts the champion to open the eyes that had closed in anticipation to the impact.

What he’s met with is -

Well, it’s a déjà-vu, but it’s not the first one, probably nor the last one he’ll have today.

What it _is,_ though, it’s incredible.

Lugia rises in front of him, blocking the attack and replying with one of its own.

Moltres growls at it, it sounds angry, or maybe just demanding, and when it flies away Ash finds himself under the piercing gaze of the Lord of the Seas.

There’s too much going on for Ash to question it when Lugia _speaks._

Well, the telepathy-equivalent.

_“You should leave._ ” It says.

“Not without Goh.” He yells back.

_Goh._

_“Your mate.”_ Ash nods, estranged by yet another Pokémon referring to Goh as a ‘mate’, but, again, not the moment to question it.

“He’s retrieving the island treasure.” And nowhere in sight, right now, because the attacking to _whatever-that-is_ has intensified even more, and it’s nothing but smoke in front of them.

Fuck.

Lugia roars, an ice beam and lightning attack hit its back. Articuno and Zapdos shrieking for its attention.

_What in the world is going on?_

_“Chosen-one -”_

_“_ That’s _him,”_ Stresses Ash, arm darting to where he hopes his boyfriend is still alive.

But, deep down, he knows Lugia is not wrong.

It’s always him. Whenever it’s a dire prophecy that requires sacrifice. It’s always him.

_Fuck._

Lugia pays no mind to his whining. _“I’ll protect your mate. Help them.”_

_Help them?_

_Pray tell,_ thinks Ash sarcastically, _how could I help three legendary Pokémon?_

But he’d be lying if he said he doesn’t feel immediately compelled to participate.

Still. This is a bit out of his depth.

_“Go!”_ Demands Lugia.

Ah, no such thing. Not for him.

Lugia doesn’t wait another moment, turns and flies away to where Goh might still be.

The champion forcefully smacks both hands to his cheeks to sober up from the last few minutes, sighs, and once again turns to Pikachu, in silent request to be joined - _once more -_ in impending battle.

And adventure.

Ash bolts towards the very place he told Goh to stay away from, repairing on the irony only when he’s face to face with all three birds, that look down to him like they’re ready to strike. And, _wow,_ the rain and thundering surrounding really adds to the ominous ambient of certain doom.

But Lugia roars again and they all stop in their tracks. Still give Ash a menacing glare, but refrain from crisping him on the spot.

Which is kind of them, he thinks.

The answer to his question happens to answer Goh’s own from before. And it generally shines a light on what’s been going all day.

A large rock-like formation rises in front of him, and, just like predicted by his genius-of-a-partner, there’s an egg shelled inside of it.

_Trapped_ might be the most appropriate word. The egg is easily three times the size of Ash’s whole body, and seems to be shining from within and trembling.

Whatever is in there wants out.

Ash is no genius, but he doesn’t need to be one to piece this together. Nor does he need superior intelligence to smash things around. He’s usually pretty good at that.

“Thunderbolt!” He cries again, and this time lands right on target.

More light breaks through from within the egg. Ash feels a rush of energy surge through his body, and all of sudden he’s _connected._ His senses sharpen to the environment, and he has to bite back the emotion and relief he feels when he can sense Goh’s aura, shining bright as ever.

_He’s all right._

Good. He can focus now.

Lucario, Dragonite and Pikachu assist with all their might, aiding the attacks of the three birds still flocking around the rock.

It cracks, and the light shining from within the egg gets brighter, fighting from the inside.

A distressed noise from Moltres tells him that they are feeling the exertion from doing this - presumably - all day.

It’s been ten minutes for Ash, and he’s already exhausted.

“Once more, Pikachu, thunderbolt! Lucario, your strongest aura wave, now!”

It cracks again, and this time the Pokemon within releases a noise loud enough that has Ash darting both hands to his ears, and his headache going haywire.

But he feels so _alive._ With power soaring in his veins and into every attack his team delivers, side-by-side with epic creatures that, too, use the very core of their strength to achieve this common goal.

He can see every color, every shade of blue, red and yellow that surrounds the legendary birds, can sense something akin to purple coming from within the egg. Can even feel the ground as it trembles beneath them, the thickness in the ice-cold air, and every drop of rain that falls on him it’s a needle to his skin.

Ash fuels off the emotions of the Pokémon, and his own energy feeds into the power of his friends, in a fiery loop he wishes would last forever. It burns and he knows, _he knows_ he will feel it later, that it’s going to hurt and it will be torture, but it matters none, he’s living just for this moment, this very thrill that consumes him right now. He’ll live it now, and worry about the rest never.

Ash can’t be sure, but he thinks what does it in the end it’s a combination of Pikachu’s thunderbolt and one of Articuno’s ice-beams.

The sound of crumbling rocks is all he registers for a moment, then smoke, filling his lungs with polluted air and his eyes with burning tears, accompanied by the fleeting thought that _maybe_ he should get the hell of here, there’s rocks flying everywhere, and even though they’ve just help release it, he still has no idea of what creature was residing in that egg.

One thing he’s sure of, however, is that it’s now _free._

Unhinged.

Lucario tackles him to the ground, and they narrowly miss an attack that clashes a few feet behind. Pikachu jumps to their side and Dragonite cries from somewhere above, pointing to something Ash can’t see.

But he can feel it. And he can clearly sense the now-worry cluttered aura of his better-half approaching. He’s on top of Lugia.

Truly, Ash didn’t expect a least dramatic entrance.

“Ash!”

_Here,_ he tries to call, but there’s too much smoke,, and what remains of his voice is a rasp thing that won’t cut the distance.

Whatever-that-Pokémon-was screams (again), it’s deafening (again), but he doesn’t quite have the strength anymore to put his arms over his head. It’s all right. His eyes close to the image of Pikachu fussing above him, mirroring brown eyes worried.

“’s all right, buddy,” he comforts, hand to its head, “‘that was fun, wasn’t it?”

It was _exhilarating._

He’s held his end of the bargain, and Lugia has held its own, too. So it’s fine if he closes his eyes, just for a moment.

He’ll be back in a second…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> every time I promise an update I fail, so no promises this time (but let's say no later than a week form now). thoughts, love, angry mobs bc it's been A MONTH? (heh...sorry). leave it all in the form of kudos, comments, or connecting on [twitter](https://twitter.com/nodamebeat)! I'm trying to use my account there some more (: 
> 
> if I haven't yet, I wish you a wonderful year ahead, by the way! stay very safe and go crush all your goals x


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello loveys, I hope your week has been kind (if it hasn't, I hope it becomes so!).
> 
> I honestly love this chapter so, so much, I'm just gonna let you have at it. thank you, for tuning in again <3 
> 
> Ah, yes, your cue for the e-bits are at [April 9th, 22:45,] - all the way till scene's break.

**[April 8th, 18:25, Approaching Shamouti Island.]**

When Ash’s eyes open again, it’s not Pikachu’s brown ones that he meets. Instead it’s blue.

Steel-blue.

Relieved blue.

Ah, they’re atop of Lugia. Again. And Ice Island is beginning to look small and distant.

Pikachu is passed out (but fine), and cradled into Cinderace’s arms, Lucario next to them with its head to Cinderace’s shoulder. Dragonite flies besides them.

They’re all safe.

“…idiot, _you idiot._ What where you thinking? No, no, of course you _weren’t_ thinking… walking into that, they could’ve killed you, they _would’ve killed you._ I can’t believe you did something so irresponsible. _I’m so mad -_ ”

He’s strong enough to sit up, and he’ll always have enough strength to pull Goh into his arms, looping them lazily to Goh’s waist, head falling heavily to the middle of his partner’s back. Ash breaths out. Goh stops talking, takes one of Ash’s hands in his navel, and _crushes_ them together.

They’re both soaked, grimy, exhausted and probably injured somewhere. Yeah, he’s an idiot. So it’s Goh. So it’s Lugia, and the legendary birds, in Ash’s honest opinion. They’re all idiots.

Ash falls on his back and drags Goh with him, never releasing his hold. The researcher lands with his head to Ash’s shoulder.

It’s easy access for a crown-head kiss, and, having almost just died, Ash indulges in one.

Two.

Goh is pressing his face away with his free hand. Sitting up again and looking down with _angry-_ blue.

“Sorry I worried you,” Ash offers, sheepish and winded.

“Sorry?” _Uh, wrong thing to say?_ “ _Sorry?_ Ash! You’ve just helped in the birth of a legendary creature!”

He did? “I did?”

“You didn’t - you didn’t _see?_ ” No, he was too busy passing out.

“I didn’t,” admits the trainer.

It does sound amazing. He’s glad he did that. He’ll be enthusiastic about it when he has energy for something other than blinking.

He’s still lying on his back, the cold wind has mostly dried his clothes, and it must be getting real late, he deduces, by the way the sky has turned orange and dark-blue. The sun had been dwarfed by the storm in Ice Island, but now he can see it at the distance, patiently disappearing below the never ending ocean of this region.

The air is cold. But underneath his palms, Lugia feels warm.

“Ash.” There’s also a warm hand to his cheek, and Ash instinctively leans into it. “Are you okay? Where does it hurt?”

Ash closes his eyes, and checks. His muscles ache in they way he’s used to after a hard workout, or an endless battle, it’s known pain. Bearable. “Just my head,” he replies. Comes with the territory. “It happened again,” he confesses, “the aura-stuff, when we were at the shrine.” It’s mostly gone now, if anything, he feels a bit out of it. But that’s probably just the shock.

Goh nods at his words, and rummages through his backpack for a moment.

“Here, this should help,” says Goh, as he pulls out a water bottle and two white pills.

They are the same he’d given Ash last time ‘the aura-stuff’ happened.

Huh. “You carry these around?”

Goh gives him a small shrug, accompanied with a smile. “I do now.”

Heart filled with affection, Ash resolves on speaking through action, he sits up and knocks down the pill at once, pulling Goh into his embrace again, and burying his face into the researcher’s neck. “Thank you.”

“Thank _you,”_ Goh says, hand coming up to one of Ash’s arms. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Not the last quest. Not any of it.

Goh is not hurt, though he did twist his arm in an uncomfortable angle to retrieve the treasure, but it shouldn’t give him much trouble. Getting the treasure was easy, getting _to_ the treasure, however… _well,_ had it not been for them and Cinderace, he _really_ wouldn’t have made it. He heard some loud explosions, but he hadn’t seen Ash running towards the birds, or the stone, so he didn’t think much of it, solely focused on going in and getting out. He was just on his way back when Lugia appeared in front of him, and he didn’t think twice to jump on its back.

_It was like an instinct, you know?_

Ash smiles, tired but proud, because Goh following his instincts never fails to admire him.

_Then we were flying towards Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno. I tried to tell Lugia to turn around but - it would’t listen to me. I didn’t know you were in there, not until we got close enough. And then all I wanted was to jump and get you out. But then the rock-fortress explored._

Ah, yeah. That. “A legendary Pokémon?”

“Ash. Ash, it was Lugia. _A_ Lugia!” Goh’s voice is so filled with glee. Ash’s ears tune to the sound and he feels that sense, too, return to normal. “It was a baby-Lugia! It couldn’t - I think it’d been trapped in there for a while, the other three looked so relieved when it was free from the egg. It was incredible.”

It sounds incredible.

_Of course I didn’t get any pictures, idiot. I was too busy getting you out of there. Lucario was calling for help and it was so dark around we hardly could see anything. Then Lugia flapped its fins once and the whole thing stopped, like, time stood still, Ash, it was so amazing! The skies cleared and the others were throwing beams to the heavens it was… wow. Then, out of nowhere, this small Lugia begins to fly around, out of the smoke and into the sky._

So _that_ was the purple energy.

It adds up, why the Pokémon were so urged to free the egg from its locks.

A Lugia.

“Wait, shouldn’t _this_ Lugia be with them, then?”

Goh purses out his lips, and looks down to the white planes of the legendary creature’s spine on which they are posed. “I tried to tell them it was fine, that we could make it back on our own. But it wouldn’t - it wouldn’t let me.”

“Did it…talk to you?” Ash questions, suspicion in his voice.

Goh looks back at him with widened eyes. “No, of course not.” A pause. Then squinting-blue. Piercing. “Did it talk to _you?”_

Ash slowly nods in confirmation, and proceeds to tell his side of the story.

This time, Lugia takes them flying around the Fire and Lightning islands before routing back to Shamouti, and they’re back to the main island just as the sun has finished its dragging descend beneath the sea, Ash nearly asleep to his partner’s shoulder, one of Goh’s hands laced with his own between their bodies.

That was fun.

When they arrive, Lugia unceremoniously flops them down on the shore, and both of them land roughly over cold sand.

Seem like _that_ part of the service hasn’t improved.

Their Pokémon jump down more gracefully. Pikachu sleeps through the whole thing, still snug in Cinderace’s hold.

“Lugia! Thank you!” Shouts Goh, when the god of the seas stops to face them one last moment.

Lugia nods its head once in acknowledgment, and Ash feels very small under its gaze again.

“ _Thank you, chosen-ones.”_

The plural doesn’t sound accidental, and it doesn’t sit all too-well with Ash, who would rather not have Goh dragged into any of the ‘chosen-one’ bullshit.

If what Slowking said earlier it’s true, then he’s already too late.

Still, he nods his head in recognition to the creature. It just saved their lives, after all, and did as promised and kept Goh safe. That’s what matters most.

They watch, rapt, as it rises a wave in mid air, then soars towards it and disappears. One last cry alerts the entire Island that it had been there. Townsfolk already descending to the shore in herds, the festival erupting above them.

Goh nudges a should to his own, then whispers. “Did it say anything, just now?”

Finding his hand, Ash squeezes hard. “Thank you. Just that.”

-0-

Once the last treasure is in place, once Lena has played her song on the Ocarina, and once Melody has done the ceremonial rituals, they lift Goh’s hand in the air and declare him a victor - a _hero -_ of the legendary quest.

“Now we feast,” Melody says, her eyes shining with mirth.

Slowking doesn’t utter another word, even after Goh tells him all about what happened in Ice Island, it gives them a patient look and an acknowledging nod, but doesn’t otherwise react.

“Did I make him upset?” Wonders Goh, guiltily.

Ash, who isn’t charmed with the psychic-type after the afternoon’s confrontation, reassures him that it’s just the way that Slowking is, he’s most definitely _not_ done anything wrong.

He’s a hero.

“Come on, baby,” Ash soothes, giving Goh one quick, cheery kiss. “Let’s celebrate.”

They’re allowed to go back to the hotel for a shower and to change into something that isn’t wind-dried - and to drop Pikachu off, who will be sleeping the remaining of the night, it seems.

It’s more like they are _forced_ to go back and change, even if it means precious minutes of the party, because, in Melody’s less than kind words: _our champion can’t look like he’s survived a natural disaster (he did!)… well, whatever, it won’t look good in the pictures! Go change!_

Ash sees the bed in their room and all he wants is to melt within it for the next twenty-four hours. He quickly swats the thought away, however, because they haven’t just survived this day to go to bed and _sleep._

Hell no.

Tonight, they will celebrate Goh’s achievement to the very last minute. Show-off to the world how incredible he is.

Then, Ash will bring them back to this very room and celebrate Goh _privately,_ until he’s breathless, and his brilliant, prodigious mind has turned to goo.

And _then_ they will sleep.

**[April 8th, 21:55, Shamouti Island, Legend Festival.]**

So they feast.

Turns out that fighting alongside legendary creatures to free _other_ legendary creatures from their binds can open an appetite. And picking up treasures from treacherous shrines in dangerous edges is rather hunger-inducing as well.

Whatever is in the drinks fuels some of their energy back, because Ash feels livelier than he has since the battle at the Ice shrine.

As they eat, there’s a constant stream of well-wishers that come to Goh and praise him for his quest, congratulate him on his success, and ask about his adventure.

Ash is happy to stand back and be a supporting character for this one. He encourages the praise and remarks with a pride-filled voice things like, _I know, isn’t he great?, you should’ve seen him at the shrine in Lightning island!, brilliant._

Goh blushes, but eats up every last compliment. Modesty has never been his strong suit, and conquering the most important tradition of an entire Island doesn’t stand a chance to humble him down.

It will go up to his head, no doubt. But it’s fine, Ash will pinch him out of it some other day. Tonight, Goh deserves everything.

The researcher leans into Ash after dinner, his breath warm to the trainer’s ear, a hand finding his thigh under the table, inching dangerously high. “Are you proud of me?” He asks, it’s bait.

Ash bites, voice low and sultry as he replies.“ _So_ proud.”

A flash of arousal crosses Goh’s eyes, but before Ash can take it any further, Melody is coming up to them and reclaiming the champion for dancing and _pictures,_ because _moments like these must be immortalized, it’s not every day you’re a champion._

So much for flirting.

“She’s really good at all this,” Ash says to Carol, when she waltzes over to his side, two fruity-looking drinks in hand, handing one to the champion with a smile.

She toasts her cup to his at the compliment. “Best we’ve had in years. After me, of course.”

Ash laughs, sincere, with mirth in his eyes at the sight of Goh being paraded around the crowd, Melody holding a strong hand to his wrist as she introduces him to this or that person.

“Shouldn’t you be resting? I hear you had a pretty intense battle.” Ash smiles at her concern, but waves it off with a shrug and a shake of the head.

“I’m all good now,” he reassures. The pills helped with the headache, and though his entire body is still aching, he’s not going to let any of that deter from Goh’s spotlight.

“Glad to hear it,” Carol takes another sip of the drink, then shoots a seemingly innocent comment of: “Slowking was very impressing with your quest today.”

Brows furrowing as if on cue, Ash shakes his head. “I know that Slowking is very special to your island, but he wasn’t exactly helpful.”

Carol snorts. “Oh, I know. He can be quite annoying. I’m sorry if he was rude to you.”

Ash waves it off again. “Doesn’t really matter, we worked it out in the end. And it _did_ help, I guess, with the getting to Ice Island stuff.” Though they would’ve probably done that anyways. “It just - it said some weird stuff about Goh and I afterwards.”

That peaks Carol’s interest some. “Oh? What about?”

Ash debates internally for a moment. _Well,_ if someone is to know about Slowking and what it _might_ have meant with its riddles, that someone would be Carol.

Probably. Ash will take the chance.

“It called us mates?” So did Lugia, but he’d rather not get into the whole ‘Lugia talked to me’ thing right now.

Carol considers, eyes darting back and forth between Ash next to her, and Goh dancing around with the young maiden in the middle of the room.

“I guess it would look like that,” she says, thinking out loud. “Did it say anything else?”

Ash shrugs, now torn between letting it go or poking the issue any further. “It said we had a ‘fated bond’, whatever that means.”

It must mean _something,_ because Carol’s eyes light up with excitement.

“Ash!” She exclaims.“But that’s so wonderful! You must be so happy! Ah, now it makes perfect sense.”

 _What does? “_ Um, what - what does?”

“Why, everything!” At Ash’s nonplussed expression, Carol elaborates. “It all comes from old legends across the Islands but, it is said that fated bonds were chosen by Arceus itself. Certain souls, certain _people_ are meant to find each other. Meant to be together, if you will.” Ash nods, because that makes sense, and that much he had already figured out by Slowking’s words.

Carol continues. “They will have similar experiences, compliment each other’s skills and just generally…match.” Well, that’s Goh and him, all right. “When the time comes, Arceus will use both of these souls’ power to aid an important cause, drive strength from the bond to save something at risk.”

That’s…terrible.

“Wait so, what happens to the people? After. I mean, when Arceus has… _used_ them.” Ugh, that sounds worse.

Carol gives him a side glance, wondering if she should’ve said this much to begin with. Ash looks positively alarmed.

Well, it’s only a legend. “Fated bonds are eternal, Ash. Can’t be broken. Not even by death.”

That’s…not comforting. Not in the slightest.

Sensing his distress, the brunette waves a reassuring hand, giggling to lighten her previous statements. “But it’s all just old lore. Don’t worry so much. It could’ve been that Slokwing just saw you guys and thought you make a cute couple. Which, _you do,”_ she insists, teasing elbow to his arm.

Ash manages a weak chuckle at that. But the words are still roaming free in his mind. Something from Slowking’s speech wriggles among with Carol’s. “It said… Slowking said something about immortalizing the bond?”

Carol nods, as if that sounds familiar. “Well, fated bonds aren’t inherently romantic, but when two people have such a strong match, it’s not hard for them to fall in love as well.” Eerily accurate. Again. “And, I mean, these things have been around since the beginning of times,” she shrugs, “it’s all fancy parties and extravagant weddings these days, but that’s not really necessary, you know.”

Ash agrees, amused by way Carol’s eyes fill with nostalgia, as if she were one of the elders, and not in her mid-twenties. “Used to be a lot simpler,” she sighs. “Just a few minutes, some vows recited in a holy place, and you’re good to go. It doesn’t change the way the bond works, but… ah, I forgot this part…” She taps her finger to her chin a few times, searching for the words. “I think it had something to do with recognition of the bond? … Or was it a rebellious act?” Neither option makes Ash feel any better. “Well, _again,_ it’s all just legends, Ash. And I haven’t heard of one of these bonds be used for centuries. Doesn’t happen anymore.”

Yeah, _yeah._ It’s probably all right.

Carol shrugs, dismissing the whole thing. “You’d have to be one in a million to be the next one, anyways.”

Oh.

“Ash, don’t worry about it,” insists Carol again, shaking his shoulder a bit.

Right. Ash laughs it off, hand scratching his nose to hide his nerves. _Right, this is dumb. Get over it._ “You’re right. It was just a little surprising to hear Slowking talk again, that’s all.”

Not entirely a lie. It’s not like they know too many Pokémon that actually speak. Telepathic legendary creatures and odd aural connections notwithstanding.

Carol giggles. “Well, between you and me, I wouldn’t mind that Slowking being quiet once in a while.”

Ash laughs, and waves her goodbye with a smile that it’s only a little too-forced as she’s pulled away by some of her friends, asking her to fill in as DJ for a bit.

But when he’s alone again, Ash’s mind unhelpfully darts back to his former worries, incessant and nabbing.

One in a million, huh.

Why, Ash has only been ‘one in a million’ about twenty times. In nineteen years.

He wouldn’t care, usually. Thus far, he’s always been able to deal with whatever-fate he’s given. He’s never failed to rise to the occasion, even with the most improbable odds.

But if it concerns Goh -

Would this mean that everything they’ve done up until now - everything they’ve been through - it’s all part of some plan? Nothing but a means to an end?

What does that say to their hard work? Of the relationship they’ve cherished for this many years? Does it go even further back, to the day they met? To the adventures they shared as children? To the ones they had _today?_

Before he can spiral further down, Ash finds himself being hugged from behind by two limber arms, feels the familiar tickle of Goh’s front locks to his temple. His voice is airy when he speaks “Found you,” he says, playful and happy.

Ash could never believe that all the love he feels for this man is anything but what it already is. Free. Genuine.

The trainer breaths out, lighter than he has felt in a minute. Then leans his head back just enough that he can press a kiss to Goh’s cheek, rosy from the warmth of the night and all the dancing. “You escaped,” he teases.

Goh laughs, a breathy thing that puts Ash mind to spin on a more positive direction. “Barely.” He drops a kiss to Ash’s neck, then nips at the skin.

Ash smirks, pleased to see Goh picking up where they left off. “Ready to leave?”

Goh hums, and nods. “Yeah, I’m kinda tired,” he admits, untangling his arms, holding onto Ash’s ready hand instead.

“Too tired?” Quips the trainer, previous hunger returning, laced with something more serious this time.

Goh misses the change in demeanor, but considerably wakens from his exhaustion.He raises a daring eyebrow. “Depends. Will you make it worth my time?”

Ash snorts. All the praise definitely went up to his head. He better do something about that. “Have I ever not?” He challenges back.

**[April 8th, 22:45, Shamouti Island, Shamouti Hotel Suite.]**

With how tired they were, Goh didn’t believe they would make it too far on the teasing bluffs made at the party.

He stands corrected.

Ash walks them to the bed, shredding clothes on the way, hands caressing Goh’s flanks as he carefully takes off the blue long-sleeve he’d been wearing (Ash likes that one, he’s careful not to damage it). The pants he discards with less tact, pooling them with his own on the floor, until only boxer-briefs separate them. The room is tragically dark, and, deciding that won’t do, Ash reaches to one of the bedside tables to shine some light on.

Goh’s eyes shut at the sudden brightness, and half-opens one a moment later in question.

“I want to see you,” it’s the reply he gets, the gruffness in Ash’s voice a tell-tale of his desire.

He pushes Goh until he’s fully laid out on the bed, limbs relaxed, even under the intense gaze that’s roaming his nearly naked body up-and-down.

Ash straddles Goh’s thighs and just… sits there for a moment, contemplating. From this vantage point, he can admire the the way his long hair tangles and waves over the pillow, it curls a bit at the bottom, consequence of the warm night and the sweat.

(Ash had been fascinated when he first started noticing how Goh’s growing hair seemed to be evolving on its own accord, had its own little quirks. Goh calls him silly for being so obsessed over it, but for Ash, is just another thing to love about Goh. Something more to cherish).

He trails his gaze down, meeting blue eyes that no doubt are looking up to him with hunger. They _are_ blue like the oceans. Or as the skies that accompany them most days. But Ash has never been into metaphorically finding Goh in the environment, to him, Goh’s eyes are a shade of their own. They’re grounding, kind, and what shines behind them is brighter and deeper than any poetry he could bother to find. So Ash doesn’t tell him that his eyes are this or that, he just looks into them, and lets his own brown and fiery ones say everything instead.

By the way Goh looks at _him_ , Ash’s pretty sure the message gets through.

Then there’s kiss-swollen lips and a teasing tongue coming out to lick them, and Ash wants to lean down and kiss him stupid again. He resists for now, but he does reach out with a hand to hold onto Goh’s chin, thumb caressing the spit-covered lips. Goh opens wider and sucks the digit into his mouth, blue-eyes like the ocean glinting with mischief.

Ash smirks, that’s a recent discovery, being explored with eager curiosity.

He looks over the delicate dark skin of his neck, his mark at the base of the pulse-point, a little faded, but by now embedded into both of their memories for good. Then he keeps going, there’s a bite mark over Goh’s left pectoral, from a few days before when a wrestling game in their tent went a bit too far. Ash has got a matching one on his shoulder.

His other hand comes down and thumbs at a nipple, making Goh’s breath hitch and bite Ash’s thumb. Smirk turnt into a lazy smile, Ash’s hand keeps trailing down, over ribs and all the way down to Goh’s bellybutton, where he spreads his palm open and rocks his hips down exactly once, grinding the still clothed erections together.

As expected, Goh moans, his entire body tightening in effort, the muscles in his stomach surfacing under Ash’s playful hand. Then he lifts it again and a single, careful finger traces down the rest of the path, meets the obstacle of their boxers and stacked hips.

Goh bites his thumb with vengeful force, making Ash yank it back in pain. Goh glowers, and Ash’s faked innocence makes him grumble in annoyance.

“Take your time,” he jibes, sarcasm dripping from his clever mouth.

Ash narrows his eyes, then smirks again. “I plan to,” he sweetly replies, then pins Goh’s wrists to the bed with both arms before his partner attempts an attack (because if Goh gets his hands on him is game over for Ash).

But he’s done all the recon he wanted to. He’s ready. Upon careful examination, Ash has identified every last little spot that he wants to cover tonight.

Before another angry remark can leave his boyfriend’s mouth, Ash finally leans into him and kisses him. His forehead first, then the side of his head, the messy dark hair that he likes so much. His hands let go of their hold so he can cup Goh’s face instead. Freed from their bind, Goh’s own hands come up to his neck and shoulders, guiding Ash so their lips can finally meet again.

“You’re a tease,” Goh accuses, in between quick presses of their mouth, reproachful and fighting for more.

Ash doesn’t refute the statement, but follows it with one of his own. “Learned it all from you.”

Goh rolls his eyes and kisses him again to shut him up. He _might_ like to rile Ash up a little as they’re getting started, but he doesn’t hover over the trainer for _minutes_ just to _stare._ He wouldn’t have the patience for it.

Ash sucks at his tongue and lets Goh’s wandering hands move south, teasing the marked muscles, until they’re dancing over the elastic band of his boxer briefs. He doesn’t ask before shoving his hand inside the fabric, palming and pressing the hardened length. Ash hisses into his mouth, pushes his hips forward into the contact, but stops Goh when he tries to use his other hand to touch himself.

“Not so fast, hero.”

Goh huffs. “Well, if you weren’t taking _forever - ”_ he’s cut short by his own yelp, as the trainer bites at his neck and pins both of his hands up again, bent and to the sides of his head.

“You’re so impatient,” tuts Ash, provoking. A silent order to keep his arms still, even as he releases the hold again and moves down his body, licking over the carefully mapped skin.

Panting, Goh argues back. “As the hero, I demand you get a move on,” he says, a knee coming up to press to Ash’s hip, trying to pull him in and grant them some contact below the navel.

“I knew it’d go up to your head,” Ash laments, huffing out his laughter.

“I think I did pretty good out there,” defends Goh, wrestling back for some friction.

But Ash is strong and stubborn and doesn’t yield. He does reach out an arm to reposition the daring leg, hoisting it over his waist, he caresses Goh’s calf, his tight, and gently kneads up until he squeezes a but-cheek, which has Goh keening low in his throat.

 _This_ is where they shift.

Goh can almost pinpoint the moment the air feels heavier, the way it becomes harder to breathe for the both of them. Where Ash’s glinting eyes move from a teasing flame to uncontrollable, burning desire. The playfulness doesn’t fully end, but subdues and gives way to something more intense. Something serious and primal.

“You did,” Ash confirms, voice dropping below the authorized level. Goh hears himself whine in response. “You were _so good,_ ” he continues, circling a nipple with his tongue, and Goh hates him a bit. “I’m proud.”

Defeated, Goh simply sighs out a plea.“ _Ash.”_

 _“_ Mm, I know, baby. I’ve got you.” Ash shifts lower on the bed, hands circling nimble hips, lips blazing through the center of his torso, until they reach his navel and he chooses the dip of a hipbone to bite and lave at with his mouth. “Gonna make you feel good,” he breathes, as he pulls down the boxers, voicing his appreciation in a low hum as he reveals hard, leaking flesh.

He doesn’t warn Goh, because Goh doesn’t need a warning, propped up in one elbow, his half-lidded eyes have been following Ash’s every movement for a solid minute now, clouded with desire but expectant of what is about to come. Daringly, Goh brings down one hand to cup Ash’s jaw before he dives in, and Ash doesn’t break the eye contact as he darts out his tongue to grab the first taste.

Goh releases a heavy sigh and drops his head back, his elbow giving up and bouncing his upper body back on the mattress, he feels heavy, and it’s content with surrendering to Ash’s ministrations from here on-forward.

The foreplay alone was enough to get Goh desperate, a promise that he _would be_ satisfied, but it’d take a damn good minute before he was allowed to. He doesn’t complain of the kitten-licks that Ash graces him with, short and not enough. Instead, he simply moves his hand up to fondle Ash’s hair, give him some small pleasure in return for the way he’s making Goh lose his mind.

Ash sucks him down once, and Goh chokes on air at the sudden heat. But it’s over a moment later, and instead he feels a bite to his inner-thigh, same place as the night before.

Goh groans and pulls at the trainer’s hair with more force than necessary.

It backfires, of course, because Ash only moans at the sensation and ignores the _very clear_ message, simply laps at his thighs with gusto.

If his legs didn’t feel like jello, Goh is sure he would’ve kicked him.

 _“Ash.”_ There’s a demand that will likely go ignored, but he gives it a shot regardless because, _damn it,_ he’s just conquered a most difficult quest today, doesn’t he deserve some worshiping?

“I _am_ worshiping you,” replies Ash, entertained by Goh’s little reproachful rant.

Ah, that always happens when he’s too out of his head. He should’ve known.

As per usual, Ash doesn’t mind Goh’s faulty brain-to-mouth-filter. “I’m worshiping your pretty thighs,” he continues, tongue laving swiftly near his groin.“And these are _so_ hot,” he breaths, lips grazing over a hipbone, making Goh hiss at the sensation.

Then Ash tilts his head, his mouth millimeters away from Goh’s length. He hums, and looks up with seemingly innocent batting lashes. “And…of course,” he takes Goh in halfway, and it’s rewarded with a broken cry and a fist closing over his hair, the sting of it much welcomed by Ash’s own arousal.

“ _Ash…ngh….Ash.”_

This could _never_ be part of some stupid prophecy. Not with the way they surrender to each other. Not with how they’ve spent years mastering the art of loving one another so they can deliver this type of unfiltered pleasure with so much ease. So they can make each other this happy.

None of this is a plan. None of it for show.

There is no one but Goh with him in this room tonight. It’s Goh the one who cries out in pleasure when Ash finally ( _finally_ ) gives him more. It’s Goh who mewls and begs as well-trained fingers find their place inside his body and prepare him for what is yet to come, making sure to feed him plenty of pleasure as they do so, and carve out pretty whimpers that in turn make Ash want to cave and move faster.

It’s only Goh and him as he delivers on a previous promise, and wills Goh open with his mouth, tongue sure and steady alongside one remaining finger. Underneath him, Goh shudders and trashes about, back raising off the mattress, his voice lost to whimpers and broken moans.

“Ash,” he tries, weak and slurred. And Ash _wants,_ he wants so badly to take him, to realize his every wish.“ - in me,” Goh is saying, mewling again when Ash’s finger delves around, gently nudges against that spot that makes his vision turn white. “ _Please,_ need you in me.”

That’s good, because Ash needs to be inside of him, too. And he can’t wait a second longer.

There’s nothing but a little, inevitable resistance as he begins to sink in, but Ash knows Goh isn’t in pain. He is always diligent and borderline obsessive about prepping Goh with utter care, never even risking the chance of him getting hurt.

He goes slowly at first, mostly because they’re both on edge, and it’d be a shame if this ended embarrassingly fast, but also, he just wants to enjoy Goh’s blissed out face for as long as he can. So he sets and stays on a pace that is just good enough. Steady, deep, with enough chance for hands to knit together to their sides, and for sweaty foreheads to press against each other’s. Half lidded eyes meet, blue to amber, though mostly just black into black, pupils blown wide and hazy with pleasure.

Ash indulges in a deep, languid kiss, that eventually dissolves into just breathing each other’s air, mouths panting and occasionally pressing together, that’s enough, the space between their bodies nearly inexistent, but the centimeters they allow heavy and damp, the rising tension about to break.

“I’m really so proud of you, Goh,” Ash praises, his own voice turned to gravel, as he gives another carefully measured thrust, nearly all the way out before slamming back in. Goh cries out. “You were so incredible out there. _Mm,_ feel so incredible right now.”

“Ash - _oh -_ please, please,” head shaking side to side, Goh begs for release but stops short of getting it. He falls into a role unconsciously, and dutifully waits for Ash to take him there instead.

How-ever could Ash deny him?

Ash dips his head lower and nibs at the juncture of Goh’s neck as he fastens the pace. He unlaces one hand to pull away the sweaty hair framing Goh’s face, and he tenderly kisses a cheekbone as he delvers fateful words, voice soothing, laced with tenderness. “Shh, you’re so beautiful, _so_ beautiful, baby. You’re perfect.” Goh whimpers at the praise (or at the stimulation, who knows), and Ash feels almost drunk in the pleasure he gets from seeing his partner like this, to watch him unfold and tear himself apart under his hands.

“You’re wonderful,” he continues, and he feels Goh’s entire body tighten, his breath go uneven, nearly consumed by the heat coming from their bodies.

It’s too much for Ash. It’s too much for _Goh._ Perfect, overwhelmed Goh, blabbing out Ash’s name with a broken, pleading voice. “Oh, shh, It’s okay now, baby. You can let go, yeah?” He murmurs, lips warm to Goh’s temple. “ It’s all right, let go.”

And let go Goh does, with a choked sob and ropes of his come exploding between them, marring his own navel and chest, that rises and falls with erratic pants.

Ash licks his lips at the sight, leaning back just enough to catch Goh’s expression of absolute pleasure. 

Caught up in the sight, Ash’s brain short-circuits when, some moments later, Goh clenches around him.

“Come on,” he slurs, dreamy smile on his face, “now you,” weakly, he rolls his hips once, making Ash nearly come on the spot.

Trusting that Goh will tell him if it gets too much, Ash barrels on. He’s close anyways, at this rate, he doesn’t think it’ll take too long for him to -

“ _Agh. Goh!”_

The aforementioned chortles, a teasing little laugh, but doesn’t release his hold on either Ash’s hair or the clef of his ass, and instead buries his head in the trainer’s collarbone, too fucked out to do anything else but lick and kiss at whatever skin he finds there.

Goh’s fingers, lubed up from his own release, blindly find Ash’s entrance. The angle is awkward, but he doesn’t have to stay there too long, because as soon as he gently prods forward, Ash is coming with a grunted curse and releasing inside of him.

Goh receives him with a twin groan and the hand on Ash’s hair pulling again, his head lolls up so they can meet halfway in a deep kiss, filled with the mutual satisfaction of having made other lose themselves so freely.

Ash pants as they break, strained.“ _Fuck -_ Fuck, Goh…”

“I know.” It’s all Goh offers in reply, fingers caressing Ash’s scalp, pulling him into his arms.

Yeah, that was intense. He doesn’t know where the energy came from. He doesn’t know how either of them are still conscious, with both their bodies practically crumbling with exhaustion.

But he’ll be damned if he doesn’t acknowledge just how fucking fantastic that was.

Ash pulls out, mindful of how over-sensitive they are, but Goh still whimpers at the sensation. It feels _good._ Every little touch charged with after-tastes of pleasure.

the researcher brushes a kiss to the side of Ash’s head, where his face seems to have taken permanent residence in the crook of Goh’s neck, breath evening out.

Goh looks at the ceiling, at the shadows created by the lamplight and the trees from outside the window as he wills his own breath to calm down, and reminisces on everything that has been today.

He smirks, then says: “We should come back next year.”

And Ash’s hearty, soft laughter is the last thing he hears before they drift to sleep.

**[April 9th, 08:16, Shamouti Island, Shamouti Hotel Suite.]** ****

Ash runs his fingers through Goh’s hair, all the way down to the middle of his back, then retraces the path up with ticklish caresses to his neck.

They’ve overslept, but Goh reckons they have earned it today. The ferry leaves in the afternoon, and the only other thing in their agenda is a late brunch with Melody and Carol. They can afford the lazy morning in bed.

Ash woke them up about an hour before, complaining of the absolute disaster that had dried-up between their bodies, tacky and uncomfortable.

Right. They’d fallen asleep immediately after sex. Right. They hadn’t cleaned up. Right. It’s disgusting when that happens, and it’s even more of a bitch to clean up afterwards.

But something’s up with Ash this morning, because, shortly after waking them up, he coaxed Goh out of bed and into the shower, a sure hand to his waist at all times, keeping him upright and close to his own body. Washing the mess dutifully and without further complaints.

Which isn’t all that weird, sure, Ash is doting on the regular. But his usual playfulness is gone, and instead he is serious and oddly quiet, speaking only to make small remarks, or to instruct Goh to move this or that way. He still kisses all over Goh’s shoulders in the shower, and frames Goh’s face in his hands to kiss him stupid right before they get out.

That’s all business as usual and, with sleep clinging to his senses, Goh doesn’t register there’s something wrong until they are both back in bed, wearing nothing but underwear because _why bother with more._ Goh doesn’t question this logic.

Ash drapes Goh’s body half on top of him, always in contact, one hand to Goh’s hair, and the other one playing with the tags around his neck, clinking together as he spins them.

He’s pensive, notes Goh, and his mind helpfully supplies how there seemed to be something bothering him the day before as well.

But they didn’t get a chance to talk about it.

Ash will usually blurt out whatever is on his mind without much consideration, sometimes it just takes him a minute to phrase his thoughts into words, so Goh resolves on letting the process run its course. He offers quiet comfort, and makes sure to let Ash know that he’s available for whenever he’s ready to talk.

There’s time.

He’s entertained suckling a hickey to the middle of Ash’s chest when it finally happens.

“When we get married, it’ll be because we want to,” Ash says suddenly, breaking the silence.

_When._

They’ve talked about it on counted occasions. The promise, the _forever_ between them implied and certain. Goh’s own promise of it currently in Ash’s hand.

But a wedding, a _marriage,_ it’s been only breezed upon a few times.

It’s somewhere there, in the future. A future they will create together. Perhaps they still feel too young, with too much going on to spear into it thoughtfully. But it’s a given.

The road ahead, however it looks like, it’s by each other’s side.

Goh stops minutely at the declaration, and looks up to his boyfriend with, easily, a hundred questions on his face.

“Um. Wh - where’s this coming from?” it’s what Goh settles on, questioning eyes a little nervous. Then: “I want to,” he reassures, in case this is Ash hinting over an insecurity.

A smile breaks over the trainer’s face, sunny and beautiful, and Goh _has_ to lean over and kiss him. “I want to,” he repeats, a soft murmur.

“Me, too,” promises Ash, mouths still pressed together. Goh settles back, and Ash returns to his absent-minded tousling of his hair, looking up to the ceiling, eyes searching for his next words up there. “What I meant is…ah…” That he doesn’t want to get married over whatever Slowking had been talking about the day before. He doesn’t want to ‘owe’ it to the universe, to Arceus, to any Fate.

He doesn’t want their wedding to seal their destinies, and risk losing Goh over their bond serving some grandiose purpose to save the world.

He doesn’t want to believe _this_ , something so precious, is but a means to an end.

He _can’t_ believe that.

Ash clears his throat, annoyed at the intrusive thought. “What I mean _is:_ we’ll get married because we want to, yeah? Not because something is making us.”

Goh’s face contorts in confusion. He usually excels at decoding Ash’s muddy wording, but this is proving a notch too cryptic for him. “Ash, what reason would we have, other than because we want to?”

More importantly, why would they _listen_ to _any_ other reason?

Goh has held an unwavering ‘no-opinions allowed’ policy to third-parties regarding their relationship. It has worked wonders for them the last four years, and he had no intent of changing it anytime in the future.

People will always talk, Goh knows.

Because they are two boys ( _it’s just a phase. You’ll find a pretty girl one of these days and settle down with her)_.

Because they are young ( _you’re just children! you’ll change your mind)._

Because they used to be too far away ( _He’s where now? Ah, dear, I’m sure you can find someone from around here who’s…)._

Because they have different dreams ( _You’re on your way to becoming a recognized professor, that boy is a trainer, and trainers are unstable, always traveling around. There’s no future there…)._

Because Ash is famous ( _and who are you? Ah, his boyfriend, you say? And you’re not a trainer? He’s an aspiring champion, you know, perhaps he should be with someone more…)._

Because, apparently, they don’t understand what love is ( _You’re so young, you don’t get it yet, love is more about…)._

So Goh declared, early on over a video-call in their first year of long-distance, that he wouldn’t let absolutely anyone have a say in their relationship, and Ash better didn’t even _think_ of allowing anyone’s opinions to affect him, either.

_“This is ours, Ash. No one else’s.”_

Not their parents’, not the media’s, not their friends’ nor well or ill-intentioned strangers'. This relationship was _theirs_ , to nurture and care for, or to crash and burn. But whatever happened, it would be on them.

It doesn’t really click with him why Ash is worried about that having changed. It hasn’t.

Goh reminds him as much and, in striking surprise, Ash laughs, honest and youthful, until tears pull at the corners of his eyes. Goh can tell they’re from stress, and, though he doesn’t understand exactly _what_ cloud of insecurity brought this on, he’s happy to see he’s soothed the ebbing worry away.

“The Slowking,” begins the trainer, once the laughter has - mostly - subdued. “The Slowking said - it said that we were mates.”

Goh nods, recalling their encounter the previous afternoon. “He said you’d found me?”

Ash nods, “after you left, he began saying a lot of weird stuff about us being bonded, and that the best way to …well… it suggested we get married.”

Goh blinks at the words, processing. “…Okay?”

Ash sighs. “Then it said we have a fated bond, something planned, and that it’s eternal.”

At that, Goh frowns, just like Ash knew he would. “Wait, wait… so, what - it said we are… _meant_ to be together?”

Instinctively, Ash presses him closer, hand dropping the tags and darting down to meet the other, drawing comforting patterns on Goh’s back. He shrugs, lighter than before, but some of his earlier irritation returning. “Essentially.”

“That’s…”

“It also said there was a reason for it,” blurts Ash, frowning at the thought. “I asked Carol about it, and she explained…well, she said a lot of things, but the gist of it is that fated bonds are planned, and supposed to fulfill some sort of prophecy.” Which sounds so stupid. It makes him so mad. “And I hate that, Goh. I don’t want to think that I love you because I’m _supposed to._ That’s fucked up.”

“It is,” agrees Goh. He mulls it over for a moment, then smirks. “But, in a way, it’s also kinda cool.”

Ash looks appalled at that statement.

Goh backpedals. “Hey, no, Ash. Look at me, here.” He sits up, straddling Ash’s thighs and cupping his face in both hands, making their eyes meet. Ash’s hands, still wrapped around his back, tighten, upset and unwilling to let go (of the topic, of Goh’s body).

The researcher heaves a sigh, and explains. “Listen, I know we haven’t worked so hard to stay together all these years just because someone decided it.” That _is_ fucked up. And awfully disrespectful, in his honest opinion.“These are our lives, Ash, _we_ call the shots here.”

Ash nods, that’s what he wants to believe, too. That’s what he’s always believed, until dumb Slowking opened his mouth…

Goh chuckles at the childish grumbling, and continues. “Think about it like this: what if the prophecy suggests instead that we are _not_ meant to be together, hm? What if it said we couldn’t be friends, or forbid we fall in love. Do you think we would’ve done what it says?"

Ash considers. Not being friends with Goh? He can hardly imagine it.

Not _loving_ Goh? That’s… “No,” Ash realizes, shaking his head minutely, then looks up to Goh, where easy, sure blue eyes stare back to him. “No,” he repeats, just as certain, “I wouldn’t have cared what the prophecy said.”

“See?” Hints Goh, smiling openly, “then why should you care now?” Ash gapes for a moment, as understanding draws on his face. Goh sees his expression change from frustration to confusion to surprise, and then, finally, that little _aha!_ face that tells Goh they’re back on the same page. That it’s all right again. “ _If_ we are part of something grander, if there’s any sort of fate or whatever involved… well, I still wouldn’t believe that all we’ve lived has been part of anyone’s plan. What we have, Ash, it’s…hm…it’s…”

Recovered, Ash sits up as well, hands holding Goh steady and close to him, and he knocks their foreheads together as he breaths out.“Ours,” he supplies, confident again.

Goh’s eyes glint in recognition. He nods. “No one else’s.”

Ash pecks his lips, happy, but darts back with a pout. “Wait, then what’s so cool about it?” He recalls.

Well…If Goh felt like being overly-romantic, he would spew into a speech on how the suggestion of their lives being twined together makes him feel infinitely warm, how it fills him with joy and anticipation for the life they have ahead. He would say it’s great, because they needn’t worry anymore, they belong together, and, apparently, nothing will break that apart.

But the thing is, Goh doesn’t believe any of that, and, prophecies or not, the future that awaits them it’s still in their hands, the dreams yet to realize are _theirs_ to work for. On any given day, he still feels familiar warm and joy at being with Ash. Not for something that will happen in the far and distant future, but for _now._ For this very moment.

For every moment.

Fated or not, they are still two people navigating life together, human and stubborn and _growing._ Goh doesn’t believe anything is set in stone, not even fate - if such thing exists -, and he refuses to take Ash for granted, or to ever make him feel as though they’re on this out of obligation.

It’s far purer than that. It’s hard work and friendship, and a love so unconditional it might be hard to believe for some that it’s real. But it’s the realest thing Goh has ever known, and he doesn’t care for anyone else understanding it, as long as Ash knows, as long as that truth continues to shine as certain as it’s doing right now behind his ember eyes.

They don’t owe anyone anything. Not to the people out there, or to the literal gods.

If there is one thing Goh believes in, it’s in _them._

Maybe the gods picked up on how good a team they make, and wrote some prophecies to keep them entertained.

Who knows. Goh doesn’t much care either way. He still holds all the pieces to his future in his hands.

“It’s cool,” he eventually says, caressing both cheek-marks with his thumbs,“because there’s no one else I’d rather do life with. And if they want us to stay together, then I won’t fight them on that.”

Implied goes the _but I’ll destroy anyone who tries to pry us apart._ Goh seals it with a soft, secret smile, and Ash replies by kissing him, overwhelmed and stupid, murmuring a quick _I love you, too,_ into his mouth before knocking Goh over and backwards on the bed, all previous worries positively overthrown by free-flowing joy.

Ash decides he’ll gives his thanks to Arceus later, when their so-called fate comes to collect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sure do speak a lot about free will for someone who fatefully believes Goh was *crafted* to match Ash bone by bone. anywho, where's your money on this? fated match or wielders of their destiny? Both? let me know! and thank you, always always for reading my lil story! I sincerely hope you enjoy it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I wrote this way-before yesterday's pokeani chapter came out, but it feels awfully befitting that this is a Goh-centric character study chapter, because I'm just so, so proud of our boy and his growth!! keep at it, darling, we love you  
> ( ◕◡◕)っ ♡
> 
> as for the e-rated bits on this one, /listen/, this time it is laced with the plot so I would suggest you do read it? Is not as explicit as others but of course, I’d understand if you don’t want to, you can still deduce what happens after the mark on [April 19th, 17: 17], and the scene itself begins, hm, I would say around the moment Ash says ‘Hold tight’, so keep an eye for that if you do mean to skip it.
> 
> All right! thank you for reading! see you at the end-notes! x

**_[April 19th, 6:37,Tangelo Island, the large house with no bathtub and a balcony]_ **

The first memories Goh has of their apartment in Vermillion… _well,_ the _first_ memory that always comes to mind is rather inappropriate, and includes a less than advisable use of a dining table…er, but the first memory the most _collected_ side of him recalls is not too different from this.

It’s not too different from his life the last fourteen months, in fact.

It’s just them, resting in bed, with Ash’s body secured around his. The early hours of the morning slowly rousing them out of sleep and into whatever kind of trouble will entertain them that day.

Depending on the day, Ash will wake up first, grumbling about the hour and how he wants to keep sleeping, but getting up nonetheless (He’s not a candidate to the Pokémon World Championship for nothing, and Goh is ever-admired yet not surprised anymore by his friend’s discipline. Truly, he doesn’t expect less from Ash).

But that’s the case only three or four times out of the week, which means there’s still a good number of mornings when is _Goh’s_ turn to steer them into consciousness, and make sure they are functional enough to start the day. Make sure _Ash_ is functional enough to start the day.

The issue is: somedays, Goh doesn’t feel like being too functional himself.

On the rough days, Goh doesn’t feel like getting up at all.

On this particular day, he wouldn’t mind the getting up. If he were getting up in back at their place. In Vermillion. Where he longs to be right now.

Where they _should be,_ right now.

It’s stupid. Goh knew there was a high chance they’d need to extend their stay, with the way the list continues to grow, with the inevitable set backs that have gotten in the way (… ‘inevitable’…caused by Goh himself…details). It was bound to happen either way. And Goh knows he shouldn’t be this affected by it.

And yet.

Already tired of a day that hasn’t even begun, Goh sighs, and uselessly tries to melt further into the warmth of Ash’s hold.

It’s all right. It’s all right. He’s just being stupid. It’s a Wednesday, and Ash will skip his morning run if Goh asks him to, he won’t leave the bed. They can just spend the day here doing nothing. What’s another day wasted, when they’re already stuck here for _at least_ another week?

It’s _all right._

Except it isn’t, it doesn’t feel right. _Nothing_ feels right and, unable to go back to sleep, his head uselessly reminds him of the very reason why they’ve had to extend their stay in the first place (one of many reasons, but the one that chooses to haunt Goh today because it had been _his_ fault).

They were supposed to be back in Tangelo a week ago, but the slight (two-day long) detour to Golden Island cost them a ferry back. It also cost them two sleepless nights hidden in caves by the beach, trying to catch a rare, hardly ever seen Volcanora.

_But it’s here, Ash, I know it! Believe me._

Ash believed him. Because it was pointless to argue with Goh on any instance, and if it came to his Pokémon catching there was no argument to be had in the first place. So he dutifully stayed by his side for those fifty-something hours, made sure Goh ate, drank some water, and got at least three hours of sleep in the afternoons, where Volcanora was most unlikely to show.

In the end, it was three-in-the-morning when the evasive little thing finally came near the shore. _There aren’t Volcanora in this region,_ tried Ash, on the day Goh suggested they moved to Golden instead of back to Tangelo _. Not usually, but they migrated! (_ of course they had), _Volcanic grounds in Unova have become unstable, and some of them moved to these empty islands to hatch their eggs._

Ash didn’t really need to hear the reasons why, he’d just wanted to see Goh get all excited about his next catch. When it finally caught, after a fantastic display of battling technique between Goh’s Vaporeon and an angry Volcanora, Ash smiled his proud smile at his partner’s joy, patted his back, and ask that they please _go the fuck to sleep._

They slept until noon, missed the ferry back to Mandarin South, and therefore missed their plane back to Tangelo.

“It’ll cost us some days,” said Ash, revising the itinerary. He was stating the obvious, but subtly trying to make Goh understand that _they’d need to stay some extra days._ Maybe a week, since they still hadn’t been to the Northeastern area of the archipelago yet.

It’s April already, they’ve been away from home for over a month, and Goh feels so, _so stupid,_ because it’s not like there’s anything else they should be doing. This is their job.

Ash continues to train, and he continues to catch, they have made some amazing discoveries in the region and Goh _loves it._ He does. He knows how fortunate he is to be able to go on these adventures with his best friend by his side. He knows that, not long ago, they were regions apart and longing to be precisely like this. Sharing the road again.

It’s stupid. Because Ash’s words from weeks before still ring in his mind.

_Isn’t this home as well?_

Yeah, of course.

But Goh can’t seem to get over his nostalgia of Vermillion, no matter what he says to himself.

He misses the simplest things _,_ like the food from their favorite curry place right down the street, or hopping on the bus to go grocery shopping. He misses making dinner with Ash, whose one and only job consists of chopping ingredients (even the ones that don’t _need_ chopping). He misses Cinderace and Pikachu dozing off on their small couch. He misses their plants (Ash’s plants, really), that were blossoming so beautifully with the first days of Spring.

He misses their parents as well. He feels they haven’t heard from Delia in forever. Did her peonies harvest yet? They haven’t even told her about the adventure at Shamouti! She’d probably love to hear about that. Did he even reply to her last message? Not exactly a stellar son-in-law, is he.

He keeps missing his own parents. They’re still awfully busy on the daily, but always work around the schedules to secure at least one family dinner every month. Sometimes they all cram in their small apartment, some others Ash and Goh make the journey across town to visit Goh’s childhood home. Sometimes it’s a restaurant, a cuisine they want to try, or traditional, season-fitting dishes. When possible, they spend a Saturday with Goh’s grandmother, who is lively as ever, and has long-since adopted Ash as a second grandson.

Some grandson Goh is, when it’s been close to a month and all he’s done is send quick _sorry we’re busy right now_ voice-notes. Shameful, really.

Oh, but Goh is also a terrible friend, because all he’s known from Chloe in _weeks_ is the pictures of their plants she sends to Ash. _Still alive,_ she captions, attaching a thumbs-up selfie of her in front of their wild cacti in all of its spiky glory. Ash replies with emojis and _thank you’s._

They keep trying to schedule a video-call, but Chloe’s always in school or at work, and they are often in the-middle-of-nowhere. So it’s a bit of tall order.

With Professor Cerise they speak every week, for a carefully timed out hour to give the week’s highlights, make specific questions, and revise itineraries and the list.

That forsaken list.

Even if they hadn’t missed the ferry back to Mandarin (and if Goh hadn’t caught Volcanora), the reality is that they are still only about three quarters of the way through, and there’s no way they can cover the rest of the region in one week. Hell, not even _two weeks_ will be enough, at this rate.

_It’s no problem, boys,_ said Professor Cerise, understanding as ever, _take as long as you need. We’ll hold the fort here in Vermillion._

Yeah, of course. Vermillion will hold without them.

Vermillion is just a city.

And it’s got little to do with it being Goh’s home-town. But maybe there’s something about it being his home- _home._ At the moment, at least. Maybe there’s something about the people who are there, about how much he misses them.

It seems to be a lot simpler for Ash, who hasn’t mentioned missing their place once. Hasn’t said anything about missing their friends in the city, or their usual places, nor has he expressed any longing for visiting Pallet-town or hisown mother.

That irks Goh some because: how is Ash so calm about this situation? Isn’t he at least a little affected by having to stay an unknown number of _extra_ weeks away from home? Isn’t Ash frustrated as well? How - _why_ was he so readily accepting of this change to their plans?

It’s as if he doesn’t think of Vermillion at all.

They’re not the type to fall into routines, not particularly, not with the lifestyle they lead. But it’s the little comforts, thinks Goh, the little things about the city they’ve called home for the last year. It’s those silly little rituals that Goh finds himself missing right now, when he’d never repaired on them before.

He feels so stupid. He knows, _he knows_ none of this should matter. That there are more important things he could be focusing on.

And yet.

There’s movement underneath him, Ash grumbling and turning, stirring awake, his alarm blasting on the bedside table. Then there’s a gentle hand running down Goh’s back, smoothing its way down an already well-known path.

“Mmh, morning…” Ash breaths, a sleepy grumble, which Goh has also heard hundreds of times over the last fourteen months.

It’s a Wednesday, and, selfishly, feeling a little too heavy, Goh pleads, voice filled with sleep and perhaps something more, something sad. “Don’t go on your run today.”

Ash, eyes pressing together as he fights them to open, instinctively pulls Goh tighter against him, and doesn’t question the request. “Okay.”

His eyes still don’t open, but he doesn’t need to see Goh to get the inkling that something’s off. The watery sight his partner gives in reply is enough. Ash sighs as well, lighter, and holds Goh until they’re both asleep again.

Navel Island can wait. They’re taking today off.

**_[April 19th, 11:35, Tangelo Island, the large house with no bathtub and a balcony]_ **

The thing is: you don’t spend eight years next to someone without getting to know them. Goh knows Ash to the core. His strengths, flaws, fears and dreams, and of things Ash has never confided to another soul. Things that are complex and a little dark, in Ash’s own judgement.

But Ash is comfortable with Goh knowing these things about him. He is okay baring his soul like this because Goh is - _his._ He is the person Ash trusts the most, the one who can pull him through the hard stuff, guide him and put him in his place when needed. It’s the good stuff and the bad, right?

It works both ways. Ash is Goh’s, and he’s the person in charge of helping Goh when days like today happen. It’s the type of intimacy you experience with a life partner, and the type of thing Ash never thought he would _really_ understand, until one day he found himself already in it, navigating it with no instructions, but with a burning wish to get it right.

The thing is: Ash knows Goh right back. The quirks that maybe even Goh ignores.

Goh overworks, and can’t leave anything unfinished. Goh is proud and stubborn, but also humble enough to admit when he’s out of his depth (usually when he’s already _way_ out of his depth).

Goh is curious, analytical, generous, and has more confidence in himself than perhaps the recommended amount. But he doesn’t let other people’s opinions get to him, and he won’t stand for anyone wronging him, or making fun of his convictions and dreams. Goh doesn’t waste his time with people like that.

He’s kind to children, and nervous around highly-renowned scientists, and he doesn’t notice how children think he’s funny, or how highly-renowned scientists fall in love with him.

Goh works hard in developing meaningful bonds with every last one of his Pokémon. Even now, when he’s nearing the four-hundred catches, he still somehow carves time to be with them, train them, or just tend to them in a way that makes _them_ understand that Goh cares, that he’s there.

Ash also knows Goh sometimes gets trapped inside his own head. His thoughts are loud and his worries overwhelming. And the cogs in his head turn so fast Ash almost swears he can _hear_ them.

Goh is the smartest person Ash knows. Brilliant.

But Goh can be silly, get too caught up in the small stuff.

That’s quite all right. Goh never makes Ash feel like he’s dumb or like he’s being stupid when he, too, finds himself in a funk. And though their handling of these situations is different, Ash has learned that they know how to do what’s best for the other. They _trust_ the other will know what to do.

_So, the thing is:_ you don’t spend eight years next to someone without getting to know them. Especially when you hope to spend the rest of your life with them.

And Ash knows that if he sometimes has a hard time finding words for when he’s feeling down, then Goh has a hard time even _admitting_ that he’s down.

Ash thinks it has something to do with Goh’s childhood, and how he always felt the need to act as if everything was all right when his parents would ask. They were too busy, and Goh refused to burden them in any way. Even if things weren’t fine, even if he felt lonely or worried, he’d always say it was okay, until he believed it himself.

His childhood probably has something to do with the way Goh acts on days like this as well. He likes space, likes to distance himself (physically or metaphorically), and distract his mind with anything he can find. Usually research, or his Pokémon, but he does everything quietly, and runs through the motions rather robotically.

Today, Goh made breakfast ( _is toast okay?, yeah, toast is perfect, baby, let me help…),_ took a shower (alone), and clad himself back in fitted-sweats and one of Ash’s printed shirts. Then he left to the balcony (the only place in the house he seems to like), with a book and Cinderace on his tail, an unspoken (and unnecessary) _leave me alone_ filtering in his actions.

Ash doesn’t take offense. He stays out of the way and tends to the Pokémon, checks the data, re-arranges their itinerary, picks up the kitchen…Little to-do’s, things Goh won’t have to worry about later.

Days like today are by default quiet, and Ash feels for the first time the hollowness Goh complained about on their first week in town. The house _is_ large, but it’s never felt cold, at least not until this very moment, when it suddenly feels as though all the warmth has been sucked out with a giant vacuum, even in the middle of a warm April morning.

It will be another hour - at the very least - before he attempts approaching Goh, and with little else to do, Ash decides on a workout in the thus-far much ignored backyard of the house. There’s sufficient space, and as long as Lucario doesn’t collapse the fence with a pulse, it should be perfect for some mild-training.

He brings along Goh’s Vaporeon and the little Cleffa, as well as recently-caught Volcanora, so they can release some steam as well. Pikachu leads the group, helping Volcanora get familiar with the rest of their friends.

Cleffa strikes an unlikely bond with Lucario (she climbs over him and doesn’t let go, and Lucario _glares_ , but doesn’t push her away, instead proceeds to carefully run through his meditation and exercises while she clings the entire time).

After ninety minutes, a shower, and giving his gym-buddies a snack, Ash takes a deep breath and prepares to cross the imaginary line that separates him from Goh.

He slides the balcony’s door open, and walks up to where Goh is leaning to the railing. His instinct tells him to wrap Goh in his arms and comfort him with all he’s got. But he’s been here before, and he knows better.

Even if that’s what Ash wants to do, it’s not what Goh needs, it’s not something he would appreciate right now.

So Ash compromises, and carefully places both of his arms to Goh’s shoulders, squeezes softly once. It’s a quiet move. But Goh responds well to this touch and actually leans a little into it. That’s a good sign to Ash.

(Cinderace takes in the scene and carefully sneaks out, sets course towards the kitchen, where he _knows_ Lucario has saved some poképuffs for him).

Neither speaks, but Ash squeezes Goh’s shoulders again and takes another step closer. It’s still farther from Goh than he would like. But this isn’t about him.

A beat passes, and then Goh bites back a sob. “I wanted to - I feel so stupid.”

Ash frowns.“ _Don’t.”_ He musters, somewhat angrily. On this they’re fairly similar, both hate it when the other belittles themselves. “You’re not,” Ash corrects.

“Nothing’s _wrong_ ,” says Goh, ignoring Ash’s words. Answering the unasked question Ash didn’t even come to make. “It’s just a few extra days, right? And, like you said the other day, we are together, so it’s fine.” It doesn’t _sound_ fine to Ash, not when Goh says it over hiccupy breaths, and with tears streaming down his face. “But still, I - I miss it _so much.”_

Ash nods, processing the words, trying to understand in that butchered sentence what’s behind his partner’s broody mood. He hears Goh cry and doesn’t move. Not even when all he wants is to turn him around, dry his tears, and kiss over his face.

But that’s not how it works with Goh, not on days like today. He needs to get it out of his system first, and he’ll seek other comforts when he’s ready.

There’s a number of things Ash could say right now, none of them very useful, because they would go in through one ear and almost immediately out of the other.

Goh is homesick again, is what Ash gathers. They’ve just missed some important travel days, and as consequence been forced to make major changes to their itinerary, not to mention the list is a far-cry from being finished.

Ash gulps and closes his eyes, stress building in him as well for what he is about to do.

Your partner crying in front of you is likely the worst possible moment to deliver them bad news, right?

Right, but that’s exactly what Ash does anyways.

If anything, because he’s got little else to lose. “It’s not…fuck,” he breaths, wincing as the words leave his mouth, “Goh, baby…it’s - it’s not going to be just some extra days.”

Goh turns his head minutely, tears stopping as his sad eyes flash with suspicion, as if knowing that he’s about to be kicked while he’s down. “What do you mean?” He croaks, Ash’s expression a tell-tale of whatever he is about to say. Nothing good, from what Goh can see.

Ash sighs, and shoots. “It’ll be another four-weeks.”

Goh receives the news about the same way he would a bucket of ice-water to the head.

He shrugs off Ash’s hands, who takes a step-back and raises his arms placatingly, which, of course, accomplish nothing against Goh’s now-angry expression, reddish eyes framed by furrowed eyebrows. “You’re telling me that _right now?”_

Ash grimaces again, but stands his ground. “You would’ve found out either way,” he tries to defend, “you know, when it’s next week and we _aren’t_ back in Vermillion.” He knew it was a risky move. But Ash doesn’t want to wait longer and make Goh experience all of this _again._

This way, Goh can be upset now, but they can talk and figure it out and he won’t be _this_ upset much longer. It’s temporary anguish they can sort-through easily, and Goh had been homesick before but it was over quickly. No reason why this time should be different.

Right?

The researcher turns his body towards Ash, but doesn’t meet his eye, instead looking down as he processes the news.

It’s worse than he’d thought.

Goh knew, realistically, that an extra week wouldn’t cut it. But _four._ That was an entire extra _month._ Are they really that behind on the list? It can’t be, they’ve completed over thirty quests already. They’re supposed to be much further ahead.

Ash must have made a mistake.

Yeah, that’s it.

“Check again,” says Goh, “let’s change something around, visit the reserves first…”

Ash shakes his head. “Already tried that, the new itinerary is the shortest one that could be,” he explains, voice as patient as he can manage. “It’s still four weeks, though.”

But Goh can’t take four weeks. Four weeks is too long. Four weeks is too far. And Ash is clumsy, Ash must have made a mistake.

“There must be something you missed. I’ll take a look at it.” Insists the researcher.

Ash doesn’t take the comment well. He’s just spent half the morning moving things around in the schedule, tinkering with calendar sheets, time-slots and ferry, plane, and train tickets, just so he could make things easier for Goh. He’s been diligent to a fault, and doesn’t appreciate his hard-work being questioned so carelessly.

“I didn’t miss anything, Goh,” defends Ash, a small frown on his face now as well. “I’m telling you, it’s the shortest that can be.”

_No._ “You must’ve made a mistake somewhere, you are clumsy with these things.”

Ash looks affronted, and Goh regrets the accusation the moment it’s out of his mouth. But the damage is done.

“You think I didn’t check a million times already?” Chews the trainer, irritation dripping in his tone.

Something in the back of his head reminds Goh that this _isn’t_ Ash’s fault. That be it one week, or four, or longer, he’d still be feeling this way today.

But Goh ignores the sensitive warning, and proceeds to take out all of his frustration on the easy target in front of him.

He snaps. “It doesn’t matter how many times you go through it, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re going to overlook your mistakes!”

Ash’s entire stance hardens at those words, and he quickly matches Goh’s vexation with his own building one. “I’ve been on the road for ten years, Goh,” he spats, low and hurt, “I think I know what I’m doing.” Then his eyes narrow, and he scoffs. “Or is it just not good enough, because _you_ didn’t do it?”

With his own temper feeling dangerously short, Ash knows this is about to turn into a fight.

He doesn’t stop it from happening.

“That’s uncalled for. You know I trust you with the work,” says Goh, crossing his arms in front of his chest, eyes flashing with annoyance.

Why, Ash begs to differ. “Sure, that’s why you always read it afterwards when I add an entry to the journal, right? Because you _clearly_ trust me so much.”

“That’s just to make sure - ”

“Of _what?_ That I don’t make any stupid mistakes? That’s why you think I can’t prepare a schedule?”

Goh doesn’t appreciate the interruption. “This is _different,_ Ash.”

“Is it?” Quips the trainer. “Because from here it looks about the same: if something isn’t done your way, you immediately don’t like it.”

Called out, Goh has nothing to reply to that, but he holds onto the other vine and attacks Ash’s way of work instead, venom dripping from every word. “You know what? _Yes,_ I _do_ check your entries so I can find and edit out all of your useless additions.”

_Fuck._ Did he just say that? That’s low. And a lie. And Ash looks like he’s been shot, eyes wide and disbelieving. _Fuck,_ thinks Goh again, as he keeps going. “Who cares if Slakoth likes red leafs over green ones? Or if Pupitar likes to nest near electric-types? None of that matters, Ash! Nobody cares about that!”

Ah, now he’s done it.

Add terrible boyfriend (friend, research-fellow) to Goh’s list of failed roles. He’s really building a record for himself, isn’t he?

Ash blinks rapidly to fight back the tears, his fists close to his sides and the rest of his body rigid. Suddenly, the distance he was loathing so much before feels as though it’s not enough. Suddenly, away from Goh sounds like the best place to be.

He allows a beat to pass between them, grants Goh a moment to process everything he’s just said, and, as horror begins to show on his features, the trainer gracefully delivers his own jab. “Maybe you should be doing this alone, then.”

Instead of it being an angry remark, a blistering shout or a shove, it’s quiet, meek and tired and disappointed. It’s calculated, too, because Ash knows like this it’ll impact Goh the most. Like this Goh will understand that he’s hurt Ash as well.

Ash knows everything about Goh, knows how to get under his skin, how to butt-heads until they’re both screaming. He also knows how to walk around a minefield, and how to de-escalate an argument between them. And that’s what he would usually do.

But right now he’s ignored all of that knowledge and gone right ahead into battle anyway.

They’ve both lost this one, and Ash doesn’t stay for whatever Goh was going to say next - if he was going to say anything at all -, he settles for a surrendering wave of a hand as he turns to leave.

_There’s lunch for you in the kitchen, whenever you want it,_ he adds then, right at the threshold of the slide door, crossing the line that will put distance between them again.

That’s what he’d come to say all along. He’d only meant to let Goh know that there was lunch, he made those sandwiches Goh likes so much, and he even managed to work the air-fryer machine-thing, so there’s fries as well.

He didn’t get to say any of that. But at least Goh knows, among other things, that there’s lunch for him in the kitchen.

But if he likes the balcony so much, he can stay there the entire day, for all Ash cares.

**[April 17th, 12:07, Tangelo Island, the large house with no bathtub and a balcony]**

Oh, but Ash _cares._

For a moment he considers going outside and catching some fresh air, put some actual physical distance between them as they both cool down, but decides against it because, with what he’s just said, Goh might think he is leaving for good. (It’d be irrational, but it’s clear Goh isn’t being his most rational today). It’s an extra-worry Ash wouldn’t want to throw on him. Even galled as he feels right now, Ash doesn’t have it in him to be that vile.

Besides, he knows, to the core of his being, that Goh didn’t mean what he said. He’s just having a bad day.

But the comment still bruised something delicate, it still hurt like a motherfucker to hear Goh say those things, and Ash _still_ has to fight back some silly tears that threaten to break after the standoff on the balcony.

He loathes fighting with Goh.

Well, Ash hates fighting with anyone he loves, and since Goh is the person he loves the most, it’s particularly painful to get into tiffs with him, no matter how petty.

But he’s smarter than this, and refuses to let an absurd argument affect him this much. Ash trusts the process and his knowledge of Goh - and of _them -_ enough to know is nothing they can’t overcome.

Besides, they don’t fight often, but on the counted occasions they have it’s always over before they go to sleep, because:

_Never go to bed angry, dear._

Like everything else his mom has taught him, Ash takes the advice to heart.

For now. He’ll let Goh wallow and sit with his thoughts a little longer.It’ll be another number of hours before Goh is ready to talk about what happened, and about whatever was happening _before_ they fought.

He does give himself a few minutes to breath and sort out his own feelings, because the only way Ash can help Goh navigate this is if he’s in his best condition. Or as close as he can get to that now.

Why, _of course_ Ash feels frustrated as well. He can’t just fix this, can’t make time magically skip forward, can’t make it tick back to save the precious minutes they lost. Can’t teleport them to Vermillion, where Goh - apparently - longs to be right now. They can’t leave, either, because they simply cannot afford to mess up with the Archipelago’s quests, it’s already bad enough they’ve had to add four weeks to the mix.

Mostly, Ash feels guilty that he couldn’t give Goh the smooth six weeks he’d promised him, back when his home-sickness first showed-up.

He doesn’t understand Goh’s anguish, not in the way he wishes he did. But he’s still sympathetic about it. _Tries_ to be.

Er - he’s had better moments.

But then again so has Goh.

Silly, caught-up-in-his-head Goh, who’s completely ignoring the fact that, _yeah,_ they might have to stay an extra four weeks, but isn’t that a great opportunity as well? Ash knows for a fact that Goh still has a handful of Pokémon left to catch in this region, and they’ve been completing so many weekend quests for Professor Ivy, she’s ready to give Goh a stellar recommendation for his future research projects. They’re learning _so much,_ things about Pokémon they hadn’t even thought of before, every quest has the potential to be a ground-breaking discovery.

Isn’t that what their job is about? Isn’t that what they love about this? Isn’t this what _Goh_ loves?

How come that’s not enough anymore? Why is nothing ever _enough?_ He gets the being ambitious, and wanting to take over the world. They _share_ that. Their dreams are big and they encourage one another to reach even higher, every time.

But if even his precious research doesn’t feel like enough, then, how long until other things in Goh’s life begin to feel insufficient?

How long until _Ash -_

_No._ No. Oh, he’s being an idiot as well, and letting this whole thing get to him.

Breathing in, Ash presses an open palm over his shirt, right in the middle of his chest , then closes his fist around the outline of the tags. He breaths out.

Goh still loves him. And he still loves Goh. That hasn’t changed. That _won’t_ change.

Today’s just an off day. This is just a dumb fight. They’ll talk it out and it’ll be alright again.

Yeah, it’ll be but a minute, now.

**[April 17th, 12:42, Tangelo Island, the large house with no bathtub and a balcony]**

“Pika?”

Goh chuckles, his very first expression of any joy that day. It’s hoarse and watery, but it encourages Pikachu enough that he keeps walking towards the researcher. “Hey, buddy,” he offers, and _wow,_ he thinks, the crying hasn’t been kind to his voice.

Pikachu doesn’t seem to mind, only keeps walking until it’s standing next to Goh’s seating figure on the balcony’s floor. Their painteresque neighborhood in Tangelo Island moves below them, there aren’t many people walking down this street (is a private neighborhood, so it’s not the usual busting noise Goh is used to, from their own apartment perched in the middle of a busy school area), but Goh has entertained himself watching the flying Pokémon go by instead, and counting the tiles on the wall of the opposite building.

Mostly, he’s just been sitting here, feeling sorry for himself, and for every person who’s ever had to deal with his impossible-self.

“Pika-chu?”

Yeah.

“I’m sorry,” he says. To Pikachu, to his trainer, who’d probably be better off without Goh. “Do you think he knows that? That I’m sorry?”

Pikachu nudges into his hand, and absently, Goh complies and pets him.

It’s always been the case, and it’s in no way a new discovery to Goh, but - “Your eyes really are like his, huh?”

Just as brown, just as open and kind, and with a spark of something powerful behind them, determined and fiery.

Goh sighs, but it’s a little lighter than it’s been all day. “I really am sorry,” he says to Pikachu, “I’ve been worrying you guys today, right?” Pikachu nods under his hand, and Goh feels guilty but, strangely, also _better._ “I - thank you,” he says, untangling the sensation as best as he can. “Thank you for caring about me.”

Pikachu tilts its head, as if wondering how that is even in question. “Pika,” he says, making Goh feel positively chastised.

Goh chuckles again. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry about that, too.”

He _knows,_ of course he does. He knows his parents care for him - always have, in their own way -, and he knows his grandmother cares about him. He knows Chloe and Professor Cerise care for him, he considers them part of his family as well.

Cinderace just spent half a morning with his mopey, sorry-ass because he _cares._ Doesn’t mind the quiet sitting around counting _tiles._

And Ash, who cares so, so much, he came to the balcony and tried to comfort Goh, even when he probably knew all-along that Goh would react like an asshole - which he did - and snap at him. Knew that Goh would unload his frustration and say something idiotic - which he _also_ did - to his innocent, well-intentioned partner.

Because that’s just what Goh does. He doesn’t…for the longest time, he didn’t really learn to deal with his emotions. They were burdensome and took time and Goh didn’t want to _make_ the time to sort them out. So he didn’t. And if anyone asked, he was fine. It didn’t happen often, but the answer was the same either way. He was _fine._ And if he wasn’t, he’d just have to wait a little longer and, eventually, he’d be fine again.

Yeah, that worked when he was eight.

But he was forced to face a myriad of new emotions when he began working towards his dream. And that wasn’t always easy. Meeting Pokémon, capturing them, sometimes letting-them-go, those were emotion filled experiences, thrilling and fantastic, but also hard and painful, on occasion.

And then, suddenly, he was fourteen, and crushing on his best-friend, which absolutely _terrified_ him. What was he supposed to do with those feelings? Could he just ignore them, like he’d done with most of his other ones?

Except that _didn’t_ work, and he found himself pushing Ash away until even their friendship had been jeopardized. And it’s a damn good thing Ash is so stubborn, because for a moment there Goh was ready to let all of it go, to call it a day on their relationship and wish Ash farewell with nothing but a handshake and - maybe - a brief hug, his heart too broken to stand anything more, his mind too confused to help him handle the situation.

For a moment there, Goh had almost convinced himself that it would be completely fine to be alone again. He didn’t need friends (besides, he had his Pokémon now). He didn’t need people to care. He was _fine._

Yeah. But Ash saw straight through it.

Back then, and today again.

And every time Goh has felt like it’s too much, Ash has been there, be it through a phone, or literally holding him as he cries and breaks down into a mess. Either way, Ash is there.

When Goh was seventeen, and bending under the crushing pressure of being one of the Aether’s Foundation lead scientists, all it took was one phone-call for Ash to drop everything and meet him halfway across the ocean, and _aren’t you supposed to be training with Leon right now? What are you doing - , it’s all right, don’t worry about it, what is this thing with sea-ultra-wormholes? Tell me more…_

It was a three-day-visit, but it fueled Goh for nearly six-months, until the next time they could meet.

Goh learned that it’s actually all right if you aren’t always _fine._ And it’s not the end of the world to let someone help you through the rough times.

At nineteen, Goh knows a tad more about himself and his emotions than he did ten years prior, and he no longer believes that it’s just him against the world.

It turns he _does_ need friends. And he’s real lucky, because he has plenty of those now. And he does appreciate people caring for him. He cares for others, too.

He cares for his parents and his grandmother, and for Chloe and Professor Cerise, and Professors Burnet and Kukui (and for Naoko, of course). Their friends in Alola and in other regions, as well.

He cares for his Pokémon more than he can put into words. Feels so strongly about them he’s certain he was always meant to become a trainer, a Pokémon catcher.

And Ash.

Stupid, infuriating, kind-hearted, too-good-for-this-world-Ash. _His_ Ash.

Well, if Goh knows the first thing about caring for someone, it’s because he’s learned it from Ash. Selfless and doting Ash.

Whom Goh had just treated shamefully.

_Fuck._

_“_ Pikachu... ” It’s a teasing tone that tells Goh he’s said that out-loud, and Pikachu isn’t calling him out on the swearing any-more than it’s ruffling him for being out here, being such a dramatic mess.

_Honestly, Goh. Why is it so hard for you to accept that someone cares?_

So many people care about him.

And the person he cares about the most…

“You’re right,” he says to Pikachu, who replies with a smug little smile. “Ugh, stop it.” This little guy is also just as annoying as its trainer, thinks Goh, as he smothers the smirk off with a few rough pats to the Pokémon’s head.

Pikachu drops the act, and instead cuddles into Goh’s space more comfortably. Goh isn’t ready yet to face Ash, to go back into the house and work-out the fight, work out everything else that’s been bothering him.

But he’s certain that they will.

Something else that the years have taught him is that there’s no point in running from his emotions, because, eventually, they catch up, and sometimes they can be so much days like today happen. (Hey, he’s learned all this, he didn’t say he always _remembers it,_ or reacts in the most-mature way. He’s still growing into it).

Goh holds Pikachu close to him, finds comfort in his small friend, and lets it heal part of his self-induced anguish.

Another thing that the years have taught him is that it’s all right to trust.

Trust that people (and Pokémon) care. Trust that they won’t leave, even when it gets a little rough. Trust that there is someone who will take him, see the good and the bad, and _choose to stay._

Trust that, soon enough, it’ll all be fine.

**[April 17th, 15:45, Tangelo Island, the large house with no bathtub and a balcony]**

Probably what upsets Ash the most is how the Pokémon walk on eggshells on days like these. It’s already unusually quiet, the air thick and gloomy. Ash knows that Pokémon are naturally tuned to their environment, they can sense danger and pick up on emotions better than humans, so it’s only their instinct to walk stealth and be uncharacteristically silent. It still irks him some, because the last thing he wants is for the Pokémon to be upset as well.

Ash knows _they_ know Goh is having a bad day - eh, to put it mildly - and though they would much rather be offering comfort, they have learned to keep their distance from the blue-eyed-man, because that’s what Goh seems to prefer.

Ash’s own reaction would be to surround himself with the Pokémon and hold them until he feels better. But Goh…Goh hurts silently, and at a distance, because he doesn’t like to depend on others. He doesn’t want to be perceived as weak, or for people to take pity on him. And he absolutely hates to to be seen crying.

But Ash has broken through these walls and he’s seen Goh at points much, much lower than today.

Ash has seen Goh cry more times than he can recall, and not once has he thought of him as ‘weak’. In fact, he’s one of the strongest people Ash knows.

It was a bit of a shock, at first, when Goh would reject his support and easy affections in moments like these. Ash thrives on people needing him, thrives on helping others and being the hero. But it was a necessary adjustment.

Where Ash is naturally compassionate, he finds himself trying not to drawn Goh with unnecessary words, to not come across as condescending, and to give Goh the space he needs until he’s ready (unless Goh is being downright impossible, in which case Ash will forgo his well-crafted process and blatantly smack some sense into his partner. But that seldom happens these days…). This, too, they have learned to navigate over the years, even though it took a while for Goh to understand that there is someone he can rely on, the same way there is someone who relies on _him._

Once they both understood this, days like today became a little easier.

So Ash worries, but no more than the necessary amount. He shakes off his self-deprecating thoughts and decides not to ponder on the fight much further, lest it ruins his demeanor and _further_ upsets their Pokémon.

Instead, he focuses on cheering the day a little, he helps the Pokémon understand that today Goh needs to be by himself, but that he still cares a lot about them, and that there is no need for them to worry, either.

He makes sure that message goes through loud and clear to Cinderace, who, being the closest to Goh - and therefore the most affected by his mood - will try to cheer up its trainer by pulling off some tricks. Goh usually does humor him, and allows it to stay by his side, even when he’d rather be left alone.

It comforts Ash to know Goh is not completely alone in moments like this, even when he can’t be the one to hold him.

Today Cinderace spent part of the morning with Goh, but after the fiasco in the balcony it chose to keep his distance as well, and it’s been clinging to Lucario the remaining of the day. (Lucario isn’t all too pleased at having _two_ needy Pokémon hanging off its arms, but it doesn’t push either one away. Ash gives it an approving thumbs up for being a good-friend).

To soften the heaviness of the day - and to soothe his own wounds -, Ash gathers all of the Pokémon in the t.v. room (yeah, there is one of those here), they all sit on and around a ridiculously large and lavish couch, in front of an even more ridiculous t.v (nearly as large as the wall, which gives Ash the feeling of being in the cinema, rather than in just a fancy house). He surfs through the thousands of channels (who knew there could be over three-thousand? Wow), and eventually settles on an era-like-drama with that actress he likes a lot (Not like _that. S_ he’s just really talented, Goh!), accompanied by the famous Gardevoir Pikachu is a little infatuated by (and Pikachu has been acting a little strange ever since he returned from who-knows-where about an hour ago, so Ash doesn’t fight him when he literally _shrieks_ in excitement at the Gardevoir on the screen).

He saw Goh leave the balcony a while ago, towards some undisclosed location in the house. Ash didn’t follow, and this place is so large they haven’t crossed paths in the last two hours. But Ash _did_ hear the tell-tale of clanking dishes in the kitchen, and it helped ease the tightness in his chest a little because, if Goh is eating, it means he’s good enough to take care of himself. He should be done processing whatever it is that had him upset and now it’ll be just a little longer until he’s ready to talk.

At quarter to four, a peace offering arrives in the shape of a warm mug of tea. Delia’s voice sings in Ash’s head again:

_Tea always makes things better._

It smells of peppermint, which Goh knows is the trainer’s favorite. Ash accepts it wordlessly and pats the space next to him on the couch, inviting.

Goh maintains the silence, but nods and takes his seat where instructed, pressing his body to Ash’s, shoulders and thighs brushing together, his own milk-tea-mug carefully cradled in his hands.

Without taking his eyes off the screen, Ash holds the tea in his left hand, and wraps his right one around Goh’s middle, pulling him in.

Goh turns to him with widened eyes, startled by the reaction for a moment, but Ash still doesn’t say anything, apparently too entertained in whatever it is he’s watching.

It’s not like Goh was expecting for them to fight again, but he definitely wasn’t expecting Ash to be so… _Ash,_ either. Goh _did_ say some hurtful things, he wouldn’t be surprised by receiving some contempt in response. That’s how he would react, at least.

In the past. He knows better these days. And, really, he shouldn’t be all that surprised by Ash’s own reaction, even if he is upset right now, he would never be downright cruel, not to Goh, and especially not when he knows Goh is going through something. Ash is really fantastic like that.

Eventually, the researcher settles and turns his gaze to the t.v., only to get an eyeful of _what’s-her-name_ and a Gardevoir running around poppy-fields, centuries-old castle in the background, with overly-dramatic violins coming from the fancy sound-system.

_Ugh. “This_ is what you’re watching?” Goh scorns, forgoing the silent treatment to instead face Ash with an unimpressed expression.

Ash doesn’t let it show in his reaction, but he’s ecstatic. _Goh is talking again!_ “It’s a good film,” he responds, unfazed.

The truth is that Ash doesn’t much care what the film is about, he’s only been half-paying attention, but it’s proven successful in keeping the Pokémon positively distracted.

Goh rolls his eyes. “Yeah. I’m sure you’ll love the scene where she takes her top off,” he accuses, drily. Three thousand channels, and Ash magically found a movie with - eh… _what’s her name, really?_

Ticked-off, but in good spirits, Ash narrows his eyes as if offended, and when speaks he does so solemnly, like the characters in the movie. “First of all, I’d _never_ objectify a lady like that, and Marianne is _killing it_ as the duchess. Second, that scene already passed, so you missed it.” He pokes his tongue out, and his ridiculousness _almost_ has Goh laughing.

Almost.

Lucario darts a hand behind him, waving it as if to shoo them. It’s his way of telling them to _shut up,_ because they’re interrupting the movie, by its side, Cinderace momentarily turns his head to give them _a look,_ which has a shiver going down Ash’s spine, and Goh smiling nervously back to his companion.

So they promptly shut up, and Goh obediently sits through the rest of the hideous film without further complaints. Though mostly he just ponders, at a loss of what to make of Ash’s attitude, how okay he seems to be, even after the nasty things Goh said to him in the morning.

Ash doesn’t seem any more upset than he’d been back then. Not his usual self, not quite, but not terribly offended either, he wouldn’t be poking fun at Goh if he were. Besides, he doesn’t reject Goh’s subtle affections or denies his own, and, selfishly, Goh basks in this undeserved warmth a little longer, not understanding how Ash can be so easily forgiving, when Goh hasn’t even mustered the courage to apologize.

But Goh must apologize, it’s the right thing to do. It’s the _logical_ thing to do. He needs to explain himself and let Ash know what’s been going on, because that’s the only way they can move past it.

Goh knows all this, he’s been here before and he _knows._ But, sometimes, it’s still hard to accept it, even for him.

The idea of someone like Ash, so open and selflessly giving it’s a little…off-putting, especially when Goh struggles to open his heart and express exactly what’s wrong.

(He knows Ash battles with his own emotions as well, sometimes. It’s not like either of them is an expert in feelings. They don’t _have_ to be, they work on it, but, isn’t Goh constantly the one preaching how they must communicate, no matter how hard? Yeah, well, easier said than done).

He sighs inwardly. This is stressful, he feels stupid and, even though he knows there’s nothing to fear - because Ash won’t judge him - it’s still somewhat embarrassing to open-up like this. A stubborn, unhelpful part of his head whispers about how he should just keep it to himself, act as if nothing was wrong. _Until it’s fine again, you know, like always._

But that’s a lie, and Goh knows better. He’s known better for a while. So he fights back that traitorous voice and tells it that, _actually, it’s worse if I do that, shut up._

It’s back and forth for a while, and, feeling frustrated again, Goh begins to itch for a way to unwind.

Punching something sounds attractive right now.

Though there’s also _something else_ he can try to release stress…

Ah, would Ash see right through it as well?

Probably.

_But still worth a shot._

By the time Goh’s made up his mind, the end-credits are rolling - which, _good,_ he couldn’t stand another second of that film -, and he feels ready to begin mending the bridge between them. It’s been long enough (it was long enough a nanosecond after he said those awful things. He’s just been a particularly awful person today).

The tea mugs rest finished on the coffee table, and the Pokémon who haven’t fallen asleep (Namely, Lucario and Cinderace)are quickly racing for the remote, eager to call what will be next on queue.

Goh lets them be, decides instead to wordlessly rise from his seat on the couch and reposition his body on top of Ash’s own, one thigh to either side of his boyfriend’s hips, straddling and positively pinning the other man down.

Because he’s an idiot (and wonderful, _the most_ wonderful person), Ash lets him do without complaint.

“Hi,” breaths the trainer, softly, hands coming up to rest on Goh’s hips, thumbs darting under the shirt and rubbing small circles on the skin there.

Goh groans, mortified, and presses his face to Ash’s cheek to hide his embarrassed blush. He brushes his lips up to his cheekbone, a brow, and then, finally - _finally -_ for the first time all day, meets his partner’s eyes with open vulnerability.

Ash stares back, brown eyes just as open, something adoring shining in them, which makes Goh want to kiss him and punch him at the same time. “Wanna talk about it?” Ash offers, far too sympathetic for his own good.

But Goh shakes his head, rocking his hips down instead, and swallowing Ash’s responding gasp with a bruising kiss.

_Ah. So it’s going to be like that,_ thinks Ash, hands fastening their hold as he pulls Goh closer.

The thing about Goh’s funks is that, once he’s ready to talk about what’s bothering him, it’s a lot like a dam has been broken. His emotions pour out of him and he goes through a handful of stages at a dangerous speed, until it’s all out, and he is back on his right mind.

Eventually what happens is this, Goh turns vulnerable and honest, and finally feels comfortable enough to admit he needs someone to hold him.

When he’s ready to ask for help, Ash is the first person he seeks.

Ash has been holding Goh’s hand through the rough times ever since they were children, both in a metaphoric and sometimes real sense, way before their affections grew beyond friendship.

Sometime later, when they were together but couldn’t be _physically_ together- because unfair oceans breached between them - it was harder to offer these comforts, and all Ash could do most times was listen at the other side of the line, hoping that Goh could feel his support, even at a distance.

Fast-forward through the last year, when these days are off and far-between, but still inevitably happen. When he’s ready, Goh will ask to be held and kissed and comforted with tenderness, to be made love to with slow and well-practiced moves.

Ever-doting, Ash is happy to serve.

It’s part of the reason why Ash doesn’t take it to heart when Goh reacts as poorly as he did in the morning. None if this is natural to Goh, and Ash suspects he still struggles with the idea having other people care for him so much. So Ash tries to be there, as best as he can, even if it means biting a bullet every once in a while.

But sometimes it _still_ happens that Goh acts as though what he needs is to channel his pain into frustration, punch his way through the sorrow with strength. Ash knows better, though, and he fights right back with overwhelming care, kisses him with more softness than usual, and meets force with a kindness that exasperates Goh at first, but eventually mellows him down until he relents, lets Ash win the battle, and tend to him like he best knows how.

The result is the same regardless, Goh writhing in bed, flushed to the tip of his ears, chanting out the trainer’s name like a prayer.

So Ash slows down the kiss, takes the dominant edge away from Goh with soothing hands running up his back under the shirt, and lets him hold onto _some_ control by allowing a hand to grasp and pull at his raven hair. That’s a welcome sensation always.

Ash darts his head back when Goh pushes his hips down again, tutting playfully. Goh huffs, burying his face into his boyfriend’s neck, which he deems a safe place to hide.

All right, then. Ash will bite.

“More?” Asks the champion, knowingly, hands dancing down until they gently rest atop his lower-back, fingers tapping minutely as he waits for an answer.

Goh pulls back to face him again, blue-eyes a little darkened, a lot determined. He kisses Ash again until they’re both lightheaded and, with a voice that leaves no room for questioning, demands: “Take me to bed.”

What he's really saying is _take care of me,_ in his roundabout sort of way. But Ash - who has spent close to a decade decoding Goh - gets the message loud and clear.

Ash initiates the next kiss, slow and steady, trying to let Goh know that it’s all right now. He can let go of whatever it is he's holding onto. Ash will be in charge from now on, and will take care of him as requested. As needed.

"Hold tight," instructs the trainer, hoisting them both up the couch with ease. His arms secure to the back of Goh's thighs, whose legs wrap around Ash’s middle instinctually, while his arms do as told and cling to the trainer’s neck with ease (and perhaps with more strength than strictly necessary, but he knows Ash won’t complain).

Admittedly, the way Ash manhandles and carries him around as though he weights nothing it’s a turn-on for Goh, (he might be lighter than Ash, but he’s still a fully grown man, thank you very much). Goh hides his face in the crook of Ash's neck for the duration of the trip to the bedroom (much longer than it would be in _their_ apartment, he laments, where their room is down the hall and not in _another freaking floor_ ).

He entertains himself with kissing and nipping and secretly gloating in how strong Ash is, how his muscles work to keep them both upright and in motion. Ash doesn't even falter on the stairs, though he has to halt Goh's kisses momentarily when they make him go a little weak in the knees. He's carrying precious cargo, must be handled with care.

Goh snickers into Ash’s mouth at the cheesiness of that comment, and the sound is so beautiful to Ash’s ears he has to stop _again,_ get himself together before crossing the door into the master-bedroom.

When they finally cross that threshold, however, all the humor dies down. They sober considerably, Goh visibly calmer, and Ash much more attentive to his every move.

But it’s not exactly settled between them, they’re seizing each other, and there’s a tension in the air that lingers, even as they kiss and paw the clothes off.

Minutes later, they return to the former position, with Ash seating up, back to the bed’s headboard, and Goh hoisted on his lap, trading humid kisses as he rides the trainer, thighs moving up and down at a punishing pace.

“You owe me an apology,” Ash reminds, snapping his hips up to meet Goh halfway, who cries out and drops his forehead to the trainer’s shoulder.

“I - I know,” replies Goh, but doesn’t otherwise acknowledge the fight. Instead, he sucks a bruise to the little spot where Ash’s jaw meets his neck, hand coming up to pull at his hair. It earns him the expected groan, and clouded, half-lidded eyes looking up to him.

Goh doesn’t meet the stare with an apology, in fact, he looks rather daring, as if he’d just gotten his way with Ash.

And that’s simply not right, thinks Ash, in the heat of the moment or not, he’s still somewhat hurt over Goh’s jibes in the morning, and while he would usually try and turn this into some tender, let-me-look-after-you lovemaking, the words hit a nerve, and he shouldn’t just up and ignore them and give Goh what he wants right now, should he?

Goh definitely wasn’t being very nice when he said those things, and there’s only so far peppermint tea will go. He’s not _that_ easy.

What’s more: Goh _still_ hasn’t apologized. Rude.

So in a split-second, Ash decides against changing the pace, against meeting the rough lips with softer caresses, and generally votes against having any mercy towards Goh’s advances.

He looks back up to him and rises to the challenge glinting in the blue-eyes he knows so well.

And, because Ash knows Goh better than anyone, he knows damn well what it does to his partner when he tightens his hands to Goh’s nimble hips, hard enough that they will bruise. Hard enough that Goh moans at the pressure.

Hard enough that Goh can’t move anymore, and so the only thing he can do is cry-out when Ash begins to piston up his hips, shifting _just so_ that he’s reaching deeper than before.

“ _Mmh, Ash.”_

_“_ You were rude,” remarks Ash, ignoring the whine as he nuzzles down his boyfriend’s chest, takes a perky nipple in his mouth, and _bites._ “You said some really mean stuff, _Goh._ ”

_Fuck,_ thinks Goh, both at sharp teeth on his body, and at the realization that his beloved, cherished pet-name is being purposely withheld.

Ash must be really upset, after all.

“I - _ngh…_ I know - I’m - ”

“I’ve been working so - _mm -”_ a grunt, a hand momentarily moving to Goh’s back, only to pull him impossibly closer, chests flushed together, Goh’s erection pressed between their bodies. It’s torture. It’s exactly what Ash wants for him right now. “ - been working so hard, to make sure that — _ah —_ that this trip worked out- ”

“ _Ash - ”_ Fuck. _Fuck_ that feels good. Goh’s thoughts are muddling and his senses are going useless but - but he _needs_ to let him know, needs to make Ash understand that he didn’t mean any of it. He could’t do this without Ash. He wouldn’t even _want_ any of this without Ash. “Ash, I - ”

But Ash barrels on, something more serious hinting through his formerly provoking tone. “And _you,”_ a change of pace, as he slows them down and begins to bounce Goh in his lap instead. Goh screams, but Ash keeps talking. “You’re so caught up in your head, you don’t - agh, you don’t even realize how…how far we’ve _already_ come!”

Words are becoming a little hard, but Goh tries to hiccup out an explanation of: “I - you know that…that’s _not…_ ”

This guy won’t give Goh _a break._ He pushes Goh just enough that he can mouth down his chest again, suckling and biting at the tender skin of his collarbone, nuzzling down blushed, sensitive skin, while his hands come up to his ribs to paw around there, too, rough fingertips squeezing him tight.

“You’re not even trying,” continues Ash, voice muffled by Goh’s shoulder. “And it feels… _fuck, Goh…_ It feels as though nothing is enough.” He nips the shoulder too, this time to bite back a teary sniffle. “Feels as though _I’m_ not enough.”

Goh freezes.

That’s… _unacceptable._

_“Ash.”_

Eyes widened by the tone, the champion stops dead in his tracks, now worried for an entire different reason.

Ash looks up to Goh with concern marring his features. “Shit, Goh, did I - am I _hurting_ you?” He hisses, horrified.

He’d still been careful with the prep, if somewhat hastier than usual, but Goh had expressed - adamantly - how ready he was.

He breaths out in relief when Goh - thankfully - shakes his head.

“No. _No. idiot.”_ Goh laughs, but is desperate, stressed-out. He grinds his hips down once, just to keep them both hard, and hears Ash groan in response and thinks, _this idiot. I can’t believe him._ “How can you - _damn it, Ash._ Why are you like this?!” He finally exclaims, exasperated.

“How?!” Demands Ash, confused. Frustrated. Turned on and annoyed at his partner. Who _still_ hasn’t apologized.

“Perfect!” Shouts Goh, hands smacking the sides of Ash’s shoulders with force. And, damn him, his arms feel so nice, flexed and strong and infuriating. _Ugh._ “You’re - I was awful to you, _I_ hurt _you -_ and you, you still made lunch for me, and you let me sit with you and watch that awful movie with you - ” Ash protests the insult to the film, and Goh hiccups, only now realizing there are tears tracing down his face. “ - You let me - let me kiss you and, and didn’t say _anything —_ I hurt you, and you’re still…still trying to make _me_ feel better.” The tears fall in earnest now, and it has to be Ash the one who stops them this time, framing both hands to Goh’s face, thumbs padding gently at the corners of his watery eyes.

Ash smiles up to him, gentle and quiet, with all the previous bite rid from his face. “Hey - oh, hey, baby, it’s all right.” He is saying. And _fuck,_ thinks Goh again, crying ever louder, relieved at hearing Ash call him that again. “It’s all right,” he repeats. “I know you didn’t mean those things.”

Goh shakes his head. No, he didn’t mean any of it, but it’s about more than that now.

“I’m sorry,” he finally babbles, hugging Ash tight by his shoulders, wordlessly asking to be hugged as well. “I’m _so_ sorry, Ash.” He dissolves into broken apologies, into whimpers and and sobs and _this is such a fucking mess,_ he thinks, _I’m such an idiot._

Ash wraps his arms around Goh’s waist and squeezes him tight. “You’re not,” he corrects. Ah, he said that out-loud. What an idiot, indeed. “Goh, _stop,”_ insist Ash, his voice serious, “you’re _not_ an idiot. And it’s all right, yeah? We’ll work it out,” he reassures, as one hand comes up to hold the back of Goh’s head, “we’ll work it out,” he promises again, turning his face up to clash their mouths together.

It’s deliciously warm, sensual, and helps bring some of the heavily dampened mood back. Ash breaths into the kiss, Goh’s panting lips mingle with his own, and the trainer tugs at his bottom lip indulgently.

Amusedly, Ash thinks of how this turned into sappy lovemaking after all.

He finds he doesn’t care.

Mood recovered, and hands back to their place on Goh’s hips, Ash begins bouncing him again, and Goh cries-out, _again,_ this time in pleasure as they fall into the pace, thighs burning with effort, holding his own hands to Ash’s shoulders for balance, nails digging into the skin.

“ _Ngh — Ash…hah…”_ they _finally_ find the right rhythm, now ventured in a joint mission to chase their own pleasure, and bring the other along to completion.

Ash darts a hand between their bodies to take a hold of Goh’s neglected cock, and strokes it along with Goh’s movements for a few moments, thumbing at the head to collect the fluids pooling there.

Goh mewls when he moves the hand away, but his eyes, formerly closed in pleasure, half-open with interest as he feels wet fingers prodding at his lips. “Open-up,” Ash commands. Goh complies, taking the thumb and forefinger into his mouth, sucking around to taste himself.

Ash watches with rapt fascination, notices the already blown-out eyes cloud even further with arousal, as Goh suckles on his digits as if they were a treat.

“Perfect,” praises the trainer, his voice a whole new level of deep. And Goh feels forgiven. “ _So_ perfect, baby. Take me so well, you always take me so well. Does it feel good?” Goh whimpers and nods, pushes down as if to say _isn’t that obvious?_

It is. but Ash wants _more._ “Let me hear you, then.” He pulls his fingers out, and immediately kisses away whatever protest Goh may have attempted.

He thrusts his hips again and is rewarded by a loud, desperate keen.

Yeah. They’ll be just fine.

The pace goes erratic again, but this time neither minds much. Too close already, Goh whimpers as his body trembles and he begs for everything, _anything_ Ash is willing to give him.

The trainer’s other hand leaves Goh’s hip and trails sideways to find his length again, and this time he keeps his strokes quick and methodic, occasionally letting a finger trail lower and fondle with his sack. Goh’s nails scratch his back hard enough that they might draw blood, and Ash finds he actually likes that some.

With his face pressed to Ash’s own, Goh cries out straight into his boyfriend’s ear as he finds his release. Overwhelmed and lost in all of the sensations, his hips stop completely as he comes undone, his body falling bonelessly into the ready embrace of his partner.

That’s about enough for Ash as well, who topples over the edge through the combination of Goh’s broken little whimpers, the pleasure induced by the half-crescents breaking down his backside, and the feeling of Goh so freely falling apart over him and - quite literally - into his hands.

He comes with a grunt, as he tries to turn Goh’s face with his other hand to meet in a kiss. It mostly works, ends up being a wet smack to Goh’s cheek, and then, after a moment passes and they can both breath sort-of normally again, they meet in the middle for a deep, languid kiss, with twin, satisfied sighs leaving them almost in tandem.

In the midst of all that their eyes meet again, and they study one another for one brief, important moment, blue to brown. An entire conversation that is over in a second as, promptly, both men break into laughter.

**[April 19th, 17: 17, Tangelo Island, the large house with no bathtub and a balcony]**

The apologizing lasts a solid minute.

_Please don’t leave. I wasn’t planning to. I don’t want to do this without you. I’m not leaving, Goh. I’m sorry, so sorry, I shouldn’t have said any of that, I didn’t mean it, I was being an asshole, and I’m sorry. I know, you were an asshole, but it’s all right, I forgive you. Really? - Really. And you know I love all of your entries, right? they’re brilliant, you’re brilliant, and so, so important to the work. Sure. Ash! - I believe you!_

“And you are…Ash, you _are_ enough. Please, don’t ever think otherwise.” To that, the trainer gives a half-shrug, downplaying, but Goh sees the cloud of doubt cross his features. _Unacceptable._ He needs to nip this in the bud. “No, no. _listen,_ Ash: I love you.”

“I know that.” Replies Ash, impassive, but squeezing Goh’s hand in reassurance.

That’s not in question, and Ash understands he got caught in the cross-fire of whatever else Goh is going through.

What he wants to understand now is exactly what _that_ is. So they can try and solve it.

With his extensive knowledge in Goh, Ash knows is time he pushes a little. “Baby, what’s going on?” He is trying for open and accepting, but his tone lands more around mother-hen worried. Which is just as well.

Goh glances down the planes of Ash’s naked back, where he’s plowed face-down on the bed by his side, with Goh now being the one sitting against the headboard, their hands playing lazily between their bodies.

“I’m sorry about those, too.” Is what Goh says, momentarily ignoring the topic, and nodding instead towards the angry-red scratches he’d marked on Ash’s shoulders. “Do they hurt?” It looks like they do.

Ash shrugs. “Don’t apologize,” he says, turning his head so he can catch a glimpse of the damage. “I don’t mind…actually, I kinda like them.” He admits.

“Like them?” He knows Ash gets off on the hair-pulling but, isn’t this a little too much?

“I mean, it’s like a reminder, you know? I like that.”

Goh rolls his eyes, unimpressed by the declaration. “A reminder of what? Sex?”

Ash laughs, shakes his head lazily. “No. well, _yeah,_ I guess. But it’s more like - it’s a reminder that I made you feel good. And I like that, I like making you feel _this_ good.”

Ah, that’s oddly romantic, actually. Goh can understand that.

He runs a hand through Ash’s hair, ruffling it affectionately. “It’s always good with you,” he confides, looking down adoringly to Ash’s satisfied face.

“Even the first time?” Teases the trainer, ghost of a smirk on his face.

And Goh laughs, candid, feeling lighter from his guilt with each burst. “It was still pretty good.” All things considered.

Ash hums. “Yeah, best minute of my life,” he deadpans.

Goh snorts, Ash follows, and they reminisce with fondness until it grows quiet again. Ash squeezes Goh’s hand with more force, and tries again. “Goh, what’s going on?”

Ah, yeah. It’s probably time they talk about it.

Goh sighs, unsure about where to begin. He shrugs and fidgets a bit, mumbling a flustered _it’s complicated._

To understand, to put into words.

Ash stretches out a hand to wave the long locks off from Goh’s face, caressing his cheek as he says, “take your time. I’m here.”

He’s so stupidly perfect, thinks Goh, still somewhat exasperated by the patience Ash has had with him today.

Sometimes it’s a bit hard for Goh to process how there’s someone so willing (so _open)_ to love him. To take the good and the bad sides of him and accommodate, give him space and push as needed.

It’s not Ash he questions, he could never. He knows, to the core of his being, just how loved he truly is.

It’s more the principle of it. The idea of someone - anyone - willing to love someone - anyone - else.

If he didn’t already have Ash, Goh is fairly certain he would be a skeptic as far as love was concerned. It rings almost ridiculous, to believe that you could be so known, so _perceived_ by someone else, and have them still choose to stay by your side, no matter your flaws, no matter your outbursts.

Shouldn’t that be terrifying? To give that much power to someone over yourself? To let them meet and explore the sides of your being that are sometimes alien to their owner?

Goh will ponder upon the concept of love and this type of intimacy, and be completely repelled by the idea of- willingly! - relinquishing so much control over himself. He’s always been dead-set on being the only person in charge of his life, his future.

But then Goh will look at Ash, and quickly all of his analogies and careful guards crumble at the sight of open brown eyes, sunny-bright smiles, and a heart big enough to heal all of the world’s sorrows. Goh will look at Ash and immediately accept that he doesn’t stand a chance. He loves this man, and will gladly give any part - _every part_ \- of himself to Ash, let him do with Goh as he pleases, and _trust_ that Ash will look after his heart with care.

It’s not a hard trade, Goh has already given all of himself to Ash, has probably been doing so since before he realized it. That’s how gone he is. He’s fallen completely, helplessly in love, and renounced any hesitations or fears about loving or being loved, and what that reality might imply.

And he’s been fortunate (privileged, really), because not only is he loved back with equal, fervent intensity, but loving Ash, being _in love_ with him, is in no way trapping or scary or any of the things he once thought love would be like. It’s a striking opposite. Loving Ash is _liberating._

So, truly, Goh knows there’s nothing to fear as he shares:

_I miss our families. I miss Chloe, and my Pokémon at the park…and it’s not, it’s not that you or our Pokémon here aren’t enough, you are, I love you, all of you. But I also love what we have back in Vermillion, and I guess…I think I’ve just grown comfortable? After being away for so many years, being away from you for so long, and then having it all back, I don’t want to give that up…And I know this is our job! It’s great, and I love it! I really do! But…well, I don’t really know… it’s just been hard to be away this time. It’s made me realize I really like the life we have right now, all of it. Even the dumb little things about the city that we don’t usually think about. I miss those, too. And I know it might change in the future, I get that, I’m okay with it. but…maybe…maybe I’m not ready for that to change just yet? Is that okay? Does that make sense? I’m just -_

It does make sense, comforts Ash. He loves their life in Vermillion, too, he misses their parents and Chloe and the lab and their Pokémon as well. So much. And he’s sorry he didn’t realize sooner how this was affecting Goh. He’s sorry he didn’t understand that there was a lot more than just missing the apartment or the lab to Goh’s home-sickness.

Ash has always been on the road, so for him it’s a little different, he isn’t used to feeling attached to a particular place, and he never quite figured out how to relate home to a city or a town in specific, but he understands now that it’s different for Goh. He’s sorry he didn’t see that earlier. He could’ve done more…

Goh shakes his head, he’s the one who should’ve communicated better. He promises to do so going forward. “But you’re my home, too,” he defends, unwilling to let that go misunderstood. “As long as I’m with you, Ash, I _feel_ at home.”

It’s complicated. Because it’s _both._ Ash _is_ home. Vermillion is home, too. It’s not as if they are mutually exclusive, and of course it’s not that he loves the city more than he loves Ash, _it's just -_

Ash chuckles at his flustered explanation, and Goh sighs as he feels himself not making any sense.

But Ash - wonderful, truly unbelievable Ash - reassures him once more. “I get it, baby. But, you know, I don’t have to be your _only_ definition of home. There’s more to it for you, yeah?And that’s fine. It’s good!” Goh fails to see how that’s good, with the way it’s made him behave. Ash swats his arm, and tells him to stop self-deprecating. “It’s good that you feel so strongly about all these things, they’re important to you. The details you love from the city, like meeting with Chloe in that coffee shop downtown, and the stores where you like to go for shopping - ”

“And the bus stop near the harbor where they always play live music…” offers Goh in a pouted mumble.

“And the bus stop near the harbor where they always play live music,” repeats Ash, smiling up to his partner.

Goh sighs again, wandering once again in his melancholy. It feels _good_ to share all this, but it still solves virtually nothing as far as his homesickness is concerned.

Ash considers while he lets the silence linger for a moment. Then he offers a compromise: “If all those things make home to you, then maybe we could try to find them here as well _._ Create another version of home.”

Goh thinks about it, but doesn’t quite follow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean: what do you need? What do you miss the most about life in Vermillion? Maybe it’s something that we can try here. In this house, in this town?” He sits up, hoisted on his thighs, and looks at Goh with expectant eyes, the idea already roaming free in his head.

They might not be able to have Chloe or their families and Pokémon here, but there are _other_ things they can try and bring back. It’s worth a shot. And Ash will give anything that makes Goh feel better a shot.

“I don’t…” Goh hesitates, but Ash encourages him with a brief squeeze to his hand and a nod.

“Come on, it can be something small,” Ash offers.

And this is the moment when Goh remembers that _there are no wrong answers._ This is what being loved feels like. He’s reminded every day, and somehow, it still manages to surprise him.

So, he tries something small, but immense in its value. “I, um, I miss making dinner with you?” Goh admits. “I miss finding recipes online, or in books, then going to the store to get ingredients.”

While on the road it’s usually just tossing stuff in a pot by the campfire and calling it a day. The rest is all cafes and buffets and market snacks. And in the counted days they’ve spent in this house dinner is usually a quick affair, they’re always too wired, too busy preparing for the next trip, and they don’t carve the time to actually _slow down,_ and make use of that ridiculous kitchen they have.

And it sounds so simple, just making dinner together. But the truth is that Goh _loves it._ It’s one of those silly, couple-y things he’d mock other people for in the past, until he and Ash tried it once and he was immediately, helplessly _hooked._

It’s usually twice the estimated time to prepare anything, because Ash insists on chopping the ingredients with too much finesse (even though he’s still learning), and Goh himself is adamant about having everything meticulously measured (in his book, cooking is _science,_ and should be treated with the uttermost precision).

But it’s a lot of fun still, even when the dishes taste a bit too salty, or a bit too sweet (or not salty enough, or not sweet enough). It’s fun to spend that time together and try something new, figure out recipes and adulting in the narrow space of their small apartment’s kitchen, snacking on the ingredients and playing catchy pop-songs that will haunt Goh for days to come, stuck in his head until he begins to hate them.

It’s so domestic. Sickening, really. And Goh wants it back.

Ash looks like he wants it back, too, because his eyes lighten up, and shine with their characteristic, determined glint. “All right,” he says, evidently pleased with Goh’s answer. “Let’s do that.”

Of course, he’d meant immediately.

Which is why Goh finds himself getting up, getting dressed, and out-the-door thirty minutes later, walking down the street as the sun begins to set, in-route to the local grocery store with the ingredient list for a particular vegetable stew they both like a lot (they’ve made it thrice before, so Goh is confident it _should_ take them the estimated time for once).

It’s still not Vermillion. But Goh begins to realize it doesn’t _have_ to be Vermillion to be special.

Vermillion is precious, maybe _yes_ because it’s his home-town, and _also yes_ because it homes people he loves dearly. Because there are places he enjoys and wants to keep around for the time being.

Tangelo has more exotic local flavors, the grocery store is organized completely different from the one he’s used to, and there are no bus stops with live music near the harbor, at least not that Goh knows of. But there is a beautiful park a few blocks away from the house, and the clerk at the store tells them of local bands that perform on the weekends.

Ash promises they’ll check it out, and asks for an ice cream shop recommendation while they’re at it. _I know you have a favorite one in Vermillion, let’s find one here as well!_

Stupid Ash, thinks Goh, as he holds his gloved hand on their way back to the house, each holding a bag with groceries on their available arm. Stupid Ash and his brilliant ideas, stupid Ash and his open eyes and his unwavering certainty and optimism. The way he finds creative solutions and sees light in the gloomiest of spaces.

Tangelo is not Vermillion. It could never be Vermillion. The same way Vermillion will never be Tangelo (or Alola, where Goh _also_ has kind memories and places he loves and misses on the daily), but he’s starting to think it’s fine either way. Goh begins to understand how Tangelo can be home as well. _A_ home. All he has to do is find this place’s own little things, the small pleasures to relish on.

It won’t happen overnight, but he reckons that’s fine, too. They still have four long weeks ahead of them.

Goh is glad to recognize that thought isn’t as scary anymore.

As soon as they return, Ash calls Chloe out of the blue and ropes her into a video-chat, it’s near-midnight in Kanto, but she’s catching up on homework, and she’s bleary-eyed but happy to see them.

“Sorry to call so late!” Apologizes Goh, embarrassed by bothering her at such hour.

Chloe waves him off. “It’s all right! It’s good to hear from you! How are you? Ah, Ash, the gardenia sprouted new leaves! — ”

It’s a ten minute call, brief and filled with half-catch-ups and more talk about plants than Goh cares to remember, but it’s _so good_ to hear from her again, and Ash doesn’t let them hang-up before having them all promise to talk again next Tuesday.

“How do you know we’ll be able to talk next Tuesday?” Questions him Goh, a minute after they hang up, unloading the groceries on the countertop.

They should be moving islands again soon. Today was essentially a luxury day, thought it was anything but a vacation.

Ash smirks as if he’d been awaiting the question. “It’s on the itinerary, of course.”

Goh has never crossed a room so fast, and it’s a good thing Ash’s reflexes are well-trained, too, because the way he jumped him _could_ have been dangerous.

That night, they cook and laugh and kiss over sparkling wine and the radio station they found on their first week (never felt the need to change it). Goh is stubborn about the measurements, and Ash still takes forever and a day dicing chunks of carrots and celery. The Pokémon oversee the operation with curious eyes, all of them happy to see their trainers back to normal (Goh apologizes to them as well, and shares bits of an apple Ash butchered for no reason).

An eternity later, as they set up the table, Goh looks back to the ridiculously lavish kitchen, and takes a moment to admire Ash and Pikachu - fooling around as they refill the wine, a considerable drip of it falling helplessly to the floor - and feels fuller than he has in all week.

Then he looks at Ash _again_ during dinner, watches him with cheeks full of bread and gravy and is briefly aware of how he’s falling deeper in love, in that precise moment.

He also begins to understand Ash’s own point of view a little better. Ash thinks of Goh as home, but Goh knows he also thinks of Delia as home. And thinks of Professors Kukui and Burnet’s family as home.

Home, to Ash, means _people._ It means warmth and feeling at ease with people you love. People who love you.

And Goh can understand that all too well. But where he once thought his home was limited to the narrow, cream-colored walls of their small apartment, he now begins to realize home is anywhere with Ash sitting by his side at the table. It _can_ be that simple. And it can be both.

And then, that night, as they ready for bed and Goh secures his body around the trainer’s one, and while Ash sleepily rants about having to go on a run the next morning, because he shouldn’t skip two days in a row, Goh hums in response and promises to join him (which _he does -_ on occasion -, there’s really no need for the theatrics of his boyfriend’s reaction). _Keep going, let’s see if you laugh when I lock the door next time you’re out on your run._

Playful-banter turns into playful-wrestling, that has a chance of becoming playful-sex, but they’re both tired after an emotionally taxing day that - fortunately - is ending on a brighter note. So Goh cuddles into Ash and settles them down, a kiss to his forehead and a mumbled, but very much sincere _thank you_ whispered to the crown of his dark, freshly showered hair.

Ash says goodnight for both of them and, with the certainty of being exactly where he should be, Goh sleeps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As someone who’s lived around the world and come to recognize several places as ‘home’, I feel I’m both Goh and Ash in my approach to the definition of such a thing. And it is, indeed, one of the most conflicting terms i’ve encountered in my life. It was fun - read: therapeutic - exploring that a little.
> 
> Biggest shoutout to the lovely SkyeCrystal! Who kindly let me sneak peak into their beautiful artworks some weeks before. That couch scene was heavily inspired by [this art](https://twitter.com/Skye_Crystal/status/1346995898572746754?s=20) and I *love it* so, so much. Merci beaucoup, Skye! You’ve been essential to writing and motivating this story, and I adore you loads x 
> 
> and to everyone else reading, my sincerest thank you's as well! kudos and comments fuel my soul and. there's only two chapters left on this piece, and I strive to make them worth your while. 
> 
> see you all next week!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is Wednesday, my loveys *Spiderman noises*
> 
> well now that i've outed myself as a vine boomer, I present you chapter eight. she was a lil bastard to write, but in the end i kinda love her very much anyways.
> 
> Heads up for your e-rated bits: very first scene all the way to the break and, hey, once again Skye read my mind (it would be creepy, but i think it's kinda cool) and they had drawn [this](https://twitter.com/Skye_Crystal/status/1354167569746432001?s=20) beautiful moment right as i was editing through that scene. So check it out for an adorableness overload of morning shenanigans <3 (Also check out all of their artworks because she's amazing !!! )

**[May 1st, ‘Early’, Tangelo Island, the large house with no bathtub and a balcony]**

Goh — half — wakes up to warm, plush lips pressing to his nape and shoulders. It feels heavenly, and he voices his content with a quiet moan, unsuccessfully trying to will his eyes open.

It’s probably stupidly early, because no alarms have rung yet, and, even through his closed eyelids, Goh doesn’t sense any clarity coming from the room’s window.

“Good morning,” says Ash’s unfair - illegal, _sinful -_ morning voice. Gruff and deep and terrible.

Goh grumbles his reply into the pillow, and moans again when Ash bites into his shoulder-blade.“Wha’ time s’t?” He tries to ask, muffled and slurred.

There’s humming to the middle of his shoulders, and a hand coming up to turn him on his back. “Early,” Ash replies, same gentle hand coming up to Goh’s face to push his hair out of the way.

Eyes still closed, Goh leans into the touch when he feels a kiss to his cheek, a familiar pang of desire pulling at his core.

‘Early’ means a lot of things. But above all, it’s a promise.

Ash’s lips return to his body, from his cheek down his chin and neck, until he finds Goh’s collarbone. The researcher moves a lazy arm forward to hold Ash’s head, guiding him along and pulling at the disastrous bed-tousled tresses (he doesn’t need to see them to know they’re a mess right now).

He sighs when Ash darts his tongue out to soothe the new hickey. “Feels good,” Goh breaths, which has Ash humming into his skin again.

It feels _real good,_ soothing and tender. He could fall asleep with how —

There’s a chuckle somewhere near his nipple, and Ash’s warm hand coming up to his face again, caressing his lips.

“Want me to let you sleep?” Ash muses, voice still unfairly attractive.

With a fisted hand rubbing his stubborn eyes, Goh shakes his head. “Keep going?”

Ash chortles again and shifts above him, which lets Goh feel his half-hard erection against his thigh. _Oh,_ Goh thinks, and through his hazy state inches one leg to the side, moving it between Ash’s own to offer some more friction.

There’s Ash’s forehead thudding to the middle of his chest, a soft whine of Goh’s name huffing from his lips.

It’s Goh who laughs this time, and with a half-open eyelid (he’s given up on fully opening them), he grasps Ash’s shoulders and pulls him up, hugging him and pressing their chests flush together.

It’s a little clumsy, because Goh is — admittedly — still very sleepy, but his mouth manages to find Ash’s ear, and he nuzzles gently as he murmurs, “keep going,” with a voice as inviting as he can manage.

Goh can practically _hear_ Ash’s smile. “Yeah?”

_Yeah._

Ah, he didn’t say that out loud. “Yeah.” Goh confirms, and Ash’s replying happy noise confirms to Goh that he got it right, this time.

So Ash keeps going, and for sweet, uncounted minutes it’s only his lips and hands wandering around, caressing and tickling with a feather like-touch. There’s the faint noise of bedsheets rustling with the slow movements, and a hint of wind hitting the closed window. Goh surrenders to the sensation, content with letting Ash do as he will, humming along to the open-mouth tracing down his arms, shoulders, the taut skin of his belly…

Conveniently enough, they’re naked, so Ash meets no obstacles on his sleepy exploration of Goh, whose body is so pliant that he goes easily when Ash turns him again, this time onto his stomach.

Goh furrows his head in the pillow and hugs one arm over his head, vaguely aware of the way his own erection reacts to the pressure with this new position; _that’s nice,_ he idly thinks, as he ruts his hips a few times into the sensation, chasing it with as little effort as he can.

Ash makes a funny noise somewhere around him, something between a chuckle and a grumble, and Goh reacts when he feels deft hands sliding down the planes of his back; grunts when the hands knead expertly on his lower back, palms wrapping around his hips, thumbs pressing down _just_ above his butt.

Goh hears himself give a breathy moan in response to that, now definitely hard, but the friction of the sheets no longer enough. (Ash gently rutting against the back of his thigh is not enough, either, but it’s certainly not unwelcome).

“Baby?” There’s a gentle tap to his hip, and Goh responds with a small noise that Ash probably misses.“Baby, hey.”

Ash’s hand moves down the curve of his ass, a replying shiver going down Goh’s spine. “Hmm?” He tries again, dissolving into a moan midway.

Ash laughs, hearty and soft, and making Goh want to turn around to see him — because he’s _so beautiful_ when he laughs — but alas, he’s not quite there yet. “…lube,” Ash is saying. “Where ’s it?”

Ah, right. They’re probably going to need that.

With a grumble, Goh pats a hand round his vicinity by the head of the bed. If Goh recalls correctly, it was lost somewhere in the sheets the night before, and he is fairly certain that he last saw it around the pillows, sometime between clean up and _come and cuddle me already —_

“Here,” Goh offers, hand fastening around the tube, wriggling from under the pillow and stretching his arm back to where he presumes Ash is.

There’s some muted fumbling around, and Ash securing himself a spot stranding the back of Goh’s thighs, his weight heavy, but warm and welcomed, especially in anticipation for what it’s about to come.

“Shit.” Mumbles Ash, apparently still struggling with the lube.

“What did you do?” Goh questions, with a hint of exasperation to his voice. (Mostly out of habit, that seemingly doesn’t wear off even in his half-conscious state).

Ash replies with a short and nervous _nothing,_ which most definitely means _something._

Goh deduces exactly _what_ when he feels one of Ash’s hands find balance on his calve, too slippery for its own good.

_Dummy,_ Goh thinks, but doesn’t worry much about it. There’s a new tube somewhere in the bags, that one was three-quarters done anyways. It’s fine.

“’s all right,” he mumbles, catching Ash’s attention again, “probably won’t need a lot. ‘m still…” he’s interrupted by his own yawn, that Ash uses to drape himself over Goh’s back, letting him feel his now fully hard - dripping - length when their bodies press together. “ _Mm —_ ‘m still good…from last night.”

Ash tuts into his left shoulder, bites gently. “Doesn’t matter,” he utters. “Gotta prep you either way.”

Because he likes the way Goh writhes around his fingers, but also because he’s always careful like that.

As predicted, the first finger slides in easily, a satisfied sigh leaving Goh at the pressure. It’s definitely more lube than necessary, even if he weren’t already loose from the previous night’s activities, but Goh doesn’t mind the extra slick. His heart thumps happily at the though of Ash being so diligent — and, admittedly, so clumsy.

It all makes Goh feel loved.

“More,” demands the blue-eyed man, quickly after the first finger is in. Still not enough. “Another one, come on.”

There’s that impatience edge to his voice that Ash loves to torture him for, but Goh hopes that, given how leisurely they’re taking things this morning, Ash will be nice enough to just do as he says.

Two fingers become three in counted minutes, and Goh finds himself making his first real effort of the day, by moving his hips back just enough that he will catch some more friction, with the added bonus of his own straining erection rutting to the sheets as he moves forward.

It’s maddening, the way Ash feeds him sure, constant pleasure without quite getting him there. The way he takes his time and knows exactly how much is _too_ much, how to press and kiss and suckle at the right spots to have Goh crying out wordlessly in desperation.

It’s wanting more, but being perfectly content with the pace at the same time.

Early morning sex usually has a hue of quietness, an unspoken agreement to keep it down for nobody’s sake. Goh appreciates it, if anything because his brain isn’t online enough to form coherent speech just yet, more focused instead on the _feeling._ The enjoying.

Usually, the only noises are those of tender kisses and teasing suckles, and the natural voicing of pleasure in the form of breathy moans and ragged pants, sharp intakes of breath, slow, dragged-out exhales.

Right now, there’s also the somewhat squelchy noises Ash’s fingers make as they move inside him.

_Ah! That’s, there…_

Does Ash know? Goh should let him know —

“ _There?”_ The fingers expertly curl again, and Goh moans louder than he has thus far. Ash kisses a bridge between his shoulder-blades as he hits the spot again. Goh shudders this time. “’s all right, baby. I know.”

Good. Great. Goh wants more already.

Ash teases a nipple with a brush of his fingertips and Goh _keens,_ not having expected that added touch.

“You’re so cute,” says Ash, voice breathy and fond.

_Sap,_ thinks Goh, impossibly endeared.

‘Cute’ is not what he wants to be called right now.

“But you _are_ cute,” defends Ash, making Goh realize he’s thought out-loud again. “You’re so, so cute, trembling around my fingers, begging for more.” Ah, the dangerous edge is back on his voice, and Goh _wants —“ Anything_ you want, baby. You know I’ll give you anything.”

_Fuck._ His filter truly is messed up this morning.

Well, he could care less.

“ _Everything,”_ is what Goh replies. It’s all he needs to say.

“Everything.” Parrots Ash, because _he knows_ the way his voice turns Goh into a weak, pleading disaster.

‘Everything’ means Ash pulling his fingers out agonizingly slow, so the squelching noise gets a little louder, a little more erotic.

‘Everything’ means Ash pushing Goh into the mattress with more force than necessary, and draping his entire body on top of his lover’s, heavy and _strong,_ but without fully crushing him under his full body’s weight. All that accomplishes is for Goh to have no possible escape, to be surrounded by the overwhelming presence of Ash, solely focused on _him._

That alone is enough to make him feel on edge.

‘Everything’ is also Ash breathing out into the shell of his ear, as he enters Goh with just an edge of impatience himself.

‘Everything’ is Ash moving with sure, deep, and smooth thrusts of his hips, out until just the head of his cock remains inside Goh, then in to the very base, the movement practiced and known, easy for him to fall into a rhythm that, for the time being, he keeps unhurried, just letting them both enjoy the feeling of being this connected, this together.

In mornings like this there’s no desperation to their movements, there’s no frantic chasing for release, no battles for dominance or angry biting and marking on each other’s bodies.

They still move with intent, with a shared goal of bringing the other bliss, and they know there _is_ release, waiting somewhere in the near future. There’s just no urgency to get there, not yet.

There are still fresh love-marks blooming on their bodies after these mornings; they both adore the reminders of intimacy, something to get lost in for a few moments when they catch a reflection in the mirror, something to pose a hand over and be instantly taken back to _this._

Pleasure, unapologetic and freely given.

‘Everything’ is what Ash gives him every time, without Goh ever having to ask for it.

‘Everything’ is lips never leaving his body, suckling at the lax muscles of Goh’s back, his nape, his earlobe. It’s his long hair being carefully pushed to the side, one of Ash’s hands twirling a sweaty curl around his fingers every now and again. It’s the tags, pressing to the middle of Goh’s back and changing from ice cold to damp, trampled between their bodies and collecting their heat, clanking when Ash manages a particular on-point-thrust.

‘Everything’ is one of Ash’s hands wandering around his thigh, his waist, navel, nipple, neck… _everywhere,_ but eventually, and almost as if it had been tracing an invisible path, landing atop of Goh’s own, arms slotting over each other’s and their fingers threading.

Of course ‘everything’ is praise, sung into the shell of Goh’s ear with a voice that begins dark and sensual, but that surely bleeds into something tender and breathy as the minutes progress.

Ash brings them to the edge almost without realizing it, for they’re both too focused on just holding onto the moment.

“ _Ash,”_ Goh breaths, always grounding on his lover’s name when he feels about to fall. It does nothing to prevent it, but he knows Ash appreciates it.

There’s a quick shift underneath him, the movement faster than anything has been until now, and it takes Goh a moment — through his still sleepy brain and numb reflexes — to realize that his hips have been hoisted up, just enough that he’s lightly resting on his knees, most of his weight held by Ash’s hand to his hip. Then the hand inches sideways, and Ash’s forearm is the one holding him instead.

And, for some reason, that is so unbelievably _hot,_ the way such a large chunk of Goh’s weight is being held as if it were nothing, the way Ash moves him around so freely and the way Goh decides to just run with it, whatever it is, because he know Ash has nothing but his - _his! -_ pleasure in mind.

In the end, he is not sure if it’s the way Ash joists him around so easily, or if it’s the hand that moved across his navel to stroke him in lazy, well-paced moves, but Goh feels himself give in to his orgasm all the same.

It washes over him in unsurprising slow waves, lingers for a long moment, then somehow stretches beyond that when he feels Ash’s own release break into his body, his mouth going slack on Goh’s neck, and the sensual movement of his hips faltering and stopping for a moment, then picking up again as he makes sure they both ride their orgasm to the very last breath.

There’s silence, which has been for most of the morning, but it’s finally _real_ silence, and not its constant interruption through moans or gasps or grunts, through kisses, or the sound of skin hitting skin while bedsheets rustle with their movement.

No, this time is utter silence. Even as they catch their breath, they do so quietly, allowing air to refill their lungs at their own pace.

Ash breaks this silence — which had _almost_ lulled Goh back to sleep — with a tired chuckle. Goh hums in question and hopes the sound carries through to his partner, who is still plastered to his back and _still_ inside him, even when it’s been nearly longer than it can be before it becomes uncomfortable.

Whether Ash heard him or not, he speaks. “Still with me?”

Goh laughs as well, louder than Ash had.“‘course I am,” he replies, though his voice suggests he’s sleep talking, so he presses into the joint hands for emphasis.

His eyes have been closed this whole time, but they snap open with horror as a terribly annoying, ebbing thought rears in his mind.

_Do they have to be up soon? Because that would be —_

_“_ Nah.” He hears Ash say, as he carefully pulls out with one final kiss to Goh’s shoulder. It still grants a sigh from Goh, something between leftover pleasure and mild discomfort. Then Ash manifests a warm towel without ever leaving the bed, and explain as he cleans them up. “There’s still — hm, an hour left? Maybe a little more, before we _really_ have to get up.”

Goh makes a happy sound at those words, doesn’t even care about his faulty filter this time, and beckons Ash to come hold him again, so they can enjoy the rest of the afterglow and _sleep._

Ash throws the towel to the side of the bed carelessly, over the pile that is last night’s clothes.

Huh. “You thought this through,” Goh comments, some of his lucidity deciding to show when it’s no longer needed.

Ash hums as he lies down to comply with Goh’s request, dropping kisses to his jaw and his cheek. “Not really,” he admits, the sentence interrupted as he’s rippled by a yawn. “I just woke up — and you looked so peaceful, and _so beautiful…_ and I just — well —”

Goh nods his understanding.

It happens to him too, sometimes.

He’ll wake up in the middle of the night for no reason, and turn to his side searching for something that for the longest time _wasn’t_ there.

The first time it happened and he turned to find Ash’s snug, slightly disastrous sleeping shape, Goh felt hot tears stream down his cheeks and didn’t try to stop them. He woke the trainer up right then and there, and demanded they made love. Ash, groggy and sleep-stupid (but not _stupid-stupid)_ just ran along with it, until they were both sated again.

It’s become a bit of a thing.

But sometimes it’s not even that. Some days, Ash will wake up at ‘early’, and coax Goh out of sleep and into just enough consciousness that he’s consensual and aware of what’s going on. Goh will wake up the rest of the way at some point and mornings like _this_ will happen. There’s no nostalgia attached to it, just the desire to be close, and the intention to take their time.

Why dark o’ clock in the morning? Goh doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter all that much to him. But he will admit that there is something to this hour — whatever _this_ hour is. Early. —that has its own special charm.

Sex— _intimacy—_ with Ash is loved and cherished at any time, no matter the numbers reflecting on the clock, but something about the vulnerability of the morning, of being so freshly thrown out of unconsciousness and straight into promising pleasure — _Well,_ it’s got something going for it. Goh wouldn’t want to give it up anytime soon.

And Goh knows he’ll never want to go without the way Ash kisses his slightly dampened, very-much-tousled hair as he murmurs a sweet: _go back to sleep, baby,_ just as he’s about to fall as well.

Before he does as told, Goh allows himself one last thought, filled with gratefulness and joy as he realizes, not for the first time, that this isn’t something he has to give up. Not at all. Not ever.

**[May 1st, 13:21, Cleopatra Island]**

There’s a story of Ash staying up a whole night to take care of his weakened Charizard. Of bonfire circles and Ash getting first degree burns from trying to keep his Pokémon warm.

Tracey retells it with luxurious details and fond admiration in his tone, as if he were telling the tale of a very heroic act.

Ash downplays it with a shrug, says it’s what anyone would’ve done for their Pokémon in such situation.

But Goh knows that isn’t the case, because they have all encountered their fair share of less-than-stellar Pokémon trainers, who could care less about the well-being of their companions. (If Goh remembers it right, Ash’s Charizard was a former Charmander who’d been abandoned by its trainer).

So, _no._ not _anyone_ would stay up all night keeping their giant-lizard, flame-throwing Pokémon warm after a difficult battle. Especially after said Pokémon had given its trainer so much trouble, and for so long.

But Ash would. Because that’s who Ash is. Ash _cares_ for every last one of his Pokémon, he puts them first, and considers what is best for them as creatures, he thinks of their growth and their lives and their health.

They aren’t tools on his belt that he can use in battle. They are _friends._ And their happiness is Ash’s number one concern; even when that happiness sometimes comes at the expense of saying goodbye.

It’s what makes him such a remarkable trainer. But more important than that, is what makes him the best person Goh has ever met.

And he doesn’t say that as a lovesick fool — _well, maybe a little_ — but he also means it as Ash’s partner of many years. As a friend who’s seen and heard of Ash’s adventures, as someone who has _lived_ through these adventures. And Goh he can still say, with complete confidence, that Ash is the best person he knows.

Case in point: Ash is patiently — if a little teasingly — helping Tracey set up his tent, who’s been out of field work for a solid minute, but insisted in joining them on this weekend trip because, in his own words, he _needed to get out of that lab for a little while. Ava and Ivy’s constant flirting was driving him insane._

Goh thinks he can sympathize, even when they only visit the lab every other week, it’s rather obvious that the Professor and their chief researcher are…er… _courting?_

Goh doesn’t know what’s going on between them, not exactly, but he’s accidentally walked into one too many close-ups between the two, awkwardly clearing his throat to inform of his presence, and giving the two women but a few moments to put some distance between them. (Which they _do,_ but only barely). He doesn’t know for how long it’s been going on, either, but if Tracey is desperate enough that he’s putting work hours over the weekend, Goh can only guess it’s been too long a moment.

_It’s not that I care about them getting together, obviously, that’s fine. That’s cool. But they keep dancing around each other and — ugh, it’s exhausting._

Goh chuckles nervously and extends a weak, _haha, yeah, sounds awful,_ while dutifully omitting the fact that Ash and him had been the exact same before they got together. Except that, unlike Ava (who could flirt her way through pretty much anything) Goh would freak out and stammer every-time Ash tried as much as putting a hand to his shoulder.

That had been a weird time. He’s glad that’s over.

_Really glad it’s over,_ thinks Goh, hand flying up to his neck, pressing into the point where his love-mark rests.

As if reading his mind (which Goh still isn’t sure Ash _can’t_ do), the trainer looks up from his spot kneeling on the ground, tent pieces around him, and graces Goh with a beaming smile, as if setting-up camping gear was the most amusing of activities.

Caught up, Goh manages to reply with a shy smile of his own, and blushes _only a little,_ skidding the hand down his neck and back into the salad bowl he’s supposed to be mixing.

He calls for lunch ten minutes later, the Pokémon already munching through their bowls, Tracey and Ash walking up to the impromptu lunch-table (a squared picnic cloth), still laughing about whatever memory they’re recalling now.

Goh likes Tracey.

They’d briefly met during Goh’s internship with Professor Oak, where his first week in Pallet-town overlapped with Tracey’s own last one. He’d been cheery and kind (a little gossipy, somewhat sarcastic, but overall fun to be around).

Since coming to the Orange Islands, they meet every other week when Ash and him visit Professor Ivy’s lab, and Goh appreciates Tracey’s sincere interest in getting to know him better for his own merits, and not just because he’s Ash’s current travel partner (slash boyfriend).

To this day, Goh doesn’t know what a ‘Pokémon watcher’ actually _does,_ but Tracey has been one for a bit over a decade, apparently, so he must be good at it. Whatever ‘it’ is.

If anything, his artworks are great, he’s certainly talented, and, per Ava’s commentary, his work-ethic is impeccable. So Goh is very-much looking forward to doing research-work with him this weekend.

He also appreciates the way his jokes and memories make Ash laugh so loudly.

“How did we even _do_ that?” Cackles Tracey, remembering the time they carried Ash’s Snorlax over a mountain to reach a Pokémon Center.

“Misty moving those logs over the hill was great,” says Ash, short of breath from laughing so much.

Goh digs curiously through the stories, since Tracey seems a whole lot more open to sharing their previous time in the archipelago than Ash has ever been. And the trainer himself begins to chip in with his own recollections. It’s a rare treat Goh won’t let go unsavored.

“Murcott Island is probably still my favorite, though,” Tracey muses, biting into his wrap with gusto. “It’s where I caught Scyther, and it’s got all those awesome bug-type Pokémon.”

“Misty _hated_ it,” recalls Ash.

  
Tracey smirks. “That made it better.” And they both laugh again.

But there’s no real ill behind it, because they both like Misty a lot and, why, isn’t Tracey actually…?

“How is she?” Asks Goh, apropos of her constant name-dropping. They text sometimes, but it’s been at least a month since Goh has spoken to her.

Ash shrugs, thinking the question had been aimed at him. “I don’t know — ”

But Tracey — who Goh had been actually asking in the first place — does, and he cuts in with his more elaborate answer. “She’s good! Her students are making some great progress with water-battling, and a lot trainers are challenging the gym these days, with the League kicking off in a few months.” Goh doesn’t miss the way his tone drops its excitement towards the last sentence.

“I guess that means she won’t have a lot of time to visit,” says the blue-eyed-man, gentle as he can, understanding all too well what busy schedules mean.

Tracey looks down, as if trying to mask the obvious sadness. “Not for a while, at least.” And it’s not like he can just leave the lab overnight. It’s not like Misty has the time to spare, either way. “But it’s all right, I mean — uh, we make it work.” The he looks back up to Goh, and to Ash seating by his side, their shoulders pressed together, an everlasting _ease_ surrounding them. Something to look up to, how far these two have come. “Besides, if you guys managed all that distance for so long, maybe there’s still hope for the rest of us,” Tracey says.

Goh gives him a sympathetic smile, while Ash tilts his head in confusion.

“It _does_ help knowing you’re being missed,” offers Goh, turning to look at Ash with fond eyes, then he turns to Tracy again, “and I can tell you, she misses you a whole lot.” He knows, because when they do manage to video-chat every now and again, Misty always finds a way to sneak Tracey’s name in the conversation.

Tracey beams, “thanks, man.”

Ash looks even more confused by that cryptic exchange. “Wait,” he says, slowly, “Tracey, why do you — why would Misty visit you? Does she come often?” She certainly doesn’t visit _Ash_ often.

Only a handful of times or so, in all these years, and instead is Ash the one who makes the journey over to Cerulean for a weekend every odd-some months, so they can catch-up and battle together.

If she doesn’t even come to Vermillion often, there’s no way she’d be flying back and forth to Valencia Island just to visit a friend.

Right?

A terrible, suspicious thought rears in Ash’s mind, but he swings it away immediately, because _that’d be ridiculous._

Somehow, the funny way Goh is looking at him doesn’t help Ash’s growing worry. “You’re kidding.” His boyfriend is saying, a delicate eyebrow rising in a way Ash knows too well.

“No?” Ash tries. He’s not kidding, but he kinda wishes Goh and Tracey are.

“Ash.” Says Goh, exasperated yet patient. “Ash, you _do_ know, right?”

“Oh, this is great,” bemuses Tracey, delighted by Ash’s confusion, and Goh’s disbelief. “You really _don’t_ know?”

“Know _what?”_ Blusters Ash, annoyedly. If someone would just _tell him —_

“About Misty and Tracey?” Hints Goh, pointedly nodding his head toward their friend.

Ash really hopes they are kidding now. “What about Misty and Tracey?”

The trainer can admit to himself that he’s being purposely obtuse at this point. But you will have to forgive him for not wanting to be traumatized in the midst of what, up until this point, had been a pleasant lunch.

There’s a warning in Goh’s eyes, something that says _I see what you’re doing, stop acting dense._ But he doesn’t get to call Ash out on it, Tracey beating him to the next line.

“I thought you knew, though,” he says, sobering down a little. Ash still ignores exactly _what_ is it he is supposed to know, but if it’s anything near what he’s suspecting, he decides he doesn’t really need to know. He doesn’t _want_ to know. “Misty said she’d told you?”

Ash last spoke with Misty a few days before they came to the archipelago. She _did say_ to hug Tracey for her, but that was…friends hug all the time. Ash would’ve hugged Tracey either way. It didn’t mean — what did it _mean,_ exactly?

Goh sees a parade of confused, shocked and horrified expressions cross his boyfriend’s face, and is about to mock him because _how could he not know?_

Until he belatedly repairs on Tracey’s words. _Oh. Oh, shit._

“ _What?”_ Demands Ash again, making Goh realize he’s once again thunk out-loud. “I don’t understand,” complains the trainer, clearly upset, hint of a childish pout on his features now.

Goh reaches out his hand to squeeze a cheek-mark, thumb subtly caressing the skin. “I’m sorry,” he says, to both Ash and Tracey, whom he turns to address with a genuine apology in his eyes. “I think _I_ was supposed to tell Ash, and I forgot.”

When Misty told him, several months back, she’d commanded Goh to break-down the news to Ash, who would no doubt make a scene about it. _I can’t deal with him,_ she said, dramatic herself, _send me a picture if he cries or something._

Goh is sure he _meant_ to tell him, but it was right around the time Ash had been busy with year-planning and League dates, and Goh himself had been working on the list and Lab errands. He couldn’t find the right moment, and eventually he just plain out forgot about the whole thing.

Besides, it hadn’t been actually relevant, until this very moment.

Goh turns back to Ash and meets him dead in the eyes, and try as he might, Ash can’t escape the piercing blue that stares right into his disbelieving brown ones. “Ash,” he says. And Ash already doesn’t like whatever he is about to say. “They are dating.” And because Goh _knows_ Ash will act dumb about this, he says loud and clear: “Tracey and Misty are dating.”

Well, he’s done it. You can check that off the list now.

Ash shakes his head. “What Misty?”

Tracey barks out his laughter, while Goh slaps the trainer’s shoulder.

“Ash!”

“You’re lying!” He’s not. They both know he’s not. “Tracey! Tell him it’s a lie!” Ash demands.

Tracey is still laughing, and Ash wants to slap him instead. He does get it together enough to offer a weak, humorous shrug. “It’s — uh, it’s not a lie,” He explains, then meets Ash’s eyes to make him understand he is serious. “We really are dating.”

Which…Ash can understand Tracey dating, but… “But…. _Misty?”_

Now Tracey is frowning suspiciously at the tone. “What’s wrong with Misty?”

Ash gapes, stammering until he exclaims: “What _isn’t?!”_

“Ash!”

Goh slaps him again and Ash yelps, because that fucking _hurt._ He rubs his arm with the opposite hand and decidedly ignores Goh’s glare, only to grace Tracey with a glower of his own.“Agh! She’s…she’s Misty! She’s not even pretty!”

Tracey shrugs again.“I think she’s very pretty.” He says, simply, like he’s just stating a fact.

“So do I, actually.” Supports Goh, which makes Ash turn to him with a worried face. “Ah, what? Just because I’m not into girls doesn’t mean I can’t find them attractive.”

Ash shakes his head, “Not _that,”_ he says. That he doesn’t care about. “But _Misty?!”_

_This could be a while,_ thinks Goh as he sighs. “I think it’s great.” He says to Tracy, deciding it’s best to let Ash ponder by himself for a minute. “She’s really into you.” He adds, partly just to enjoy the way Ash groans in mortification, his head dropping to Goh’s shoulder.

Tracey smiles, grateful for the vote of confidence, and not all that bothered by Ash’s shocked reaction. It’s about what he’d expected. And he can’t _wait_ to tell Misty about; she’ll probably find it hilarious.

Some minutes later, Ash is still grumbling nonsense into Goh’s shoulder, dejected and in denial. Goh pats his back comfortingly and sighs, little reassurances of _there, there_ every now and again, fond exasperation in his tone. “He’ll come around,” he stage-whispers to Tracey, who laughs again and nods, though he’s not too sure himself.

Ash begins to recover after Goh feeds him pieces of pineapple, which apparently have a magical effect over Ash’s mood (though that might be more about the way Goh sweetly asks him to try it, dangling the forkful of fruit in front of his face, pressing it playfully to his lips until Ash begrudgingly opens his mouth.

Tracey looks through the whole exchange with a thin smile and tightness in his chest. He misses Misty on the regular, and all this talk about her has only made that longing stronger. The constantly being surrounded by loving, happy couples doesn’t help, either (though he’ll take Ash and Goh’s version of love any-day over _whatever_ _the fuck_ it is Felina and Ava have going on. They really need to sort that out pronto).

An interrogatory breaks after a handful of pineapple chunks. Ash asking more questions than Tracey can eloquently answer at once, only to turn turn away screaming of how he _doesn’t want to know about it, shut up._ Rinse an repeat through the rest of lunch.

_When did it happen, how did it happen? Wait, no, don’t tell me that…were you already dating when Misty came to the Kanto trials last year? Is that why she didn’t flirt with that Gyarados guy? (_ Tracey makes an alarmed pause here, and demands to know everything about ‘that Gyarados guy’), _does Brock know? Ooh, was he mad? Why did you tell him and not me?! (You can blame Goh for that — I said I was sorry!_ ). _is dating Misty fun? (_ Goh makes an alarmed pause here, and demands to know why Ash is so curious to find out) (Ash only asks because he can’t imagine ‘Misty’ and ‘fun’ ever being harmonizing terms. Tracey promises him that it is fun, but Ash decides to take the words as a grain of salt). _Hey, do you ever make your bug-type Pokémon pull pranks on her? You should totally do that…_

Goh rolls his eyes and pinches Ash to _calm down_ accordingly. All throughout reassuring Tracey that he doesn’t have to humor Ash and his antics.

But Tracey humors Ash and his antics anyways, because, for mysterious reasons, he’s _missed_ Ash and his antics.

(Goh pretends as though he wouldn’t miss Ash and his antics at all, even though deep down he knows how much it hurts to go a single day without them).

**[May 1st, 14:50, Cleopatra Island, Forest-end]**

“It’s like walking through a forest in Unova,” muses Ash, taking pictures of some threatening Venipede that are perched on a tree.

Goh hasn’t travelled through the forests in Unova, but he’ll take Ash’s word for it.

Conveniently enough for Tracey, it’s bug-type Pokémon what has brought them to Cleopatra Island this weekend.

To be precise, the strange, unexplainable migration of bug-type Pokémon from other regions into Cleopatra and its neighboring islands.

While it’s not unusual for Pokémon species to be present across different regions, it is somewhat out of the norm for entire clusters of Pokémon to simultaneously migrate to previously uncharted lands, as it is the case with a number of islands in the Orange Archipelago, where, up until a few seasons ago, Unova native Pokémon had never been seen.

Goh doesn’t particularly think they will be the ones to find the answer to this mystery, but he will check this quest as successful if they are at least able to provide valuable data to study back at the lab. Professor Ivy said this would likely be something to involve Professors Oak and Cerise in, anyways, so Goh knows they’ll be hearing about this one again.

“Hey, look! That’s a Shelmet over there!” Goh follows Ash’s excitedly waving arm, trying to find the little snail that is — supposedly — near the clearing Ash is pointing to.

“Um, that’s not a Shelmet,” says Tracey, with a curious tilt of his head. “It’s a Joltik.” He corrects, as he closes up to it and inspects the little guy, who is resting on a tree, seemingly unbothered by the sudden attention. “I haven’t seen one this mellow. I should draw it!”

Ash watches Tracey run to his backpack, and turns around to the spot where Joltik is with a frown. “Aw, but — but it _was_ a Shelmet! I just saw it!”

Goh pats his shoulder comfortingly. “They’re both tiny, Ash, maybe you got them mixed up?” Ash’s frown only deepens at that, which is the exact opposite of what Goh was shooting for. “It’s all right either way! We’re here to gather info on _all_ bug-types, remember? Joltik are pretty cool, too.”

Ash sighs. “I guess,” he finally says, shrugging the whole thing off. “But that was a Shelmet,” he stubbornly mutters.

“Sure,” chuckles Goh, deciding it’s best to just side with Ash, otherwise the argument could last all day.

It’s about fifteen minutes later — when each of them is focused on a different tree and a different Pokémon species, with their Pokémon scattered around either playing with or running from the various bug-types — that Tracey shrieks loud enough to make everyone and everything in the forest stop dead on their tracks.

Ash and Goh share a shocked look from the distance, and hurriedly scramble to where Tracey was presumably still drawing Joltik.

“What happened?” Demands Goh, once they get to the area Tracey was in, looking around for a potential threat.

“The — the Joltik turned into — into — ” he’s panting, and weakly pointing to the Pokémon on the tree.

Where there was formerly a Joltik, now rested a considerably larger Galvantula. Which —

“It…evolved?” Ash questions, as he walks closer to where Tracey is standing. He inspects the still tranquil Pokémon. It seems _fine,_ nothing to be worried about. “That’s awesome, though!” He exclaims. “But then, why did you scream? Don’t tell me you’re scared of it.” He teases, though there’s no heat behind it, and Ash well-knows bug-types are Tracey’s fascination.

But the taunting helps Tracey snap out of his stupor, and he gives Ash an unimpressed look before shaking his head. “Of course not. But it didn’t — it wasn’t like, a _normal_ evolution.”

“What do you mean?” Prods Goh, notepad ready to document the new data.

  
Tracey sighs, and looks between the two of them and Galvantula with some distrust. “It was just so sudden, one moment it was Joltik, and when I looked up again Galvantula was there.”

It _does_ sound odd, and soon enough Goh is trying to work a logic in which that would make sense.

Does it have to do with the Island? Something about this region? Is this is an Orange born Joltik? Maybe a second-generation one! And that’s why their evolution process has changed? What does that _mean_ for other Pokémon in…?

He begins to think out-loud, walking in circles and listing various theories to the air, and he’s in the midst of _maybe_ coming up with something sensical when Tracey interrupts him.

“Uh… Goh? What’s the theory for Galvantula evolving into Swoobat?”

For a nanosecond Goh thinks it’s a joke, and he’s about to snap at Tracey for interrupting his thought process, until Ash tilts his chin up and, clear as the day, he can see a Swoobat flying around, Galvantula now completely gone.

“ _What?”_ He exclaims, eloquently, at the same moment that Ash shouts a revealing _Goh!_

_Oh._

Of course.

Cover-blown, Mew doesn’t bother with hiding anymore, and shifts form Swoobat to its own form in a beaming moment, floating above all of them but locking eyes only with Goh, whose whole stance hardens as he looks back to the mischievous eyes he’s only seen a handful of times before, and that yet carry within them the weight of lifelong promise. A lifelong dream.

A lifelong chase.

Mew grins, and saunters away.

It’s a blur from then on, and Goh realizes he’s running only when he has to jump over a log that’s gotten in his way. Cinderace is some paces head and — he guesses — Ash and Tracey are some paces behind. It doesn’t matter to him. All that matters right now is catching up to Mew.

_Catching Mew._

(The last time this happened was in Alola, when Goh had just come out of a three-day ultra-wormhole expedition, both physically and mentally exhausted, eagerly looking forward to a shower and _sleep._

Mew deemed that an appropriate moment to show up, and taunt Goh just as he left the Foundation’s security-taped area, into the deeper ends of the forest, all the while shifting from a Rowlet to a Pidgey to a Pikipek.

“And you battled?” Asked a fired-up Ash, as Goh depicted the encounter to him afterwards, over a video-call that had Goh freshly showered and in his room at the Aether Foundation, with Ash half-chewing his sandwich during lunch-break at the Champion’s Island, Pikachu by his side, just as invested in the story.

“Of course we did! I wasn’t going to let it go without a fight.”

But for all his bluffing, they had still lost the match. “It was going well, until it switched into a Primarina,” sighed Goh, defeatedly, “ we were out in three moves after that.”

Ash mirrored his disappointed expression, but, as per usual, pointed out the bright part of the situation. “I’m sure you gave a good fight. And, hey, you battled! That’s already a huge deal!”)

Goh would think back on it later, and realize that, _indeed,_ it was quite a big deal, for all his previous encounters with Mew included it disappearing in a few minutes flat after the chasing began, never a chance to engage in more than a few wasted Poké-balls.

That time in Alola was the first that Mew met Goh’s eyes for longer than a second, almost as if saying _I know what you want, come and get it._

It was a challenge, one that Goh would keep rising up to, time and time again, until he came out victorious.

Was today _the day_ he would finally come on top? The day Mew finally became his? He’s barely a quarter of the way through on his dream of completing the Pokédex, and catching every Pokémon known to man.

But that’s not a dream he’s giving up on anyways, so if he could, _if today he could just_ —

“Cinderace, pyro-ball to that tree ahead!”

It hits right on target, and the impact effectively knocks down some branches, blocking the way for Mew-turnt-Yanma. The aftermath of the attack leaves some loose embers in the air, which force Mew to return to its original form in fear of its wings catching on fire.

It turns around to address Goh and Cinderace, whom have stopped as well, and are ready for battle.

_Come on,_ thinks Goh, panting. _Come on._

Mew transforms again, into Altaria this time, and Goh swears he can pinpoint the exact moment he _knows_ Mew will battle.

It might just be his own version of Ash’s strange aura-powers, with how suddenly connected he feels to this moment.

Altaria _shrieks,_ and the next thing Goh registers is Cinderace narrowly dodging the dragon-pulse attack coming their way, some of the damage hitting its paw anyways.

The space is limited, and Goh will have to be careful if he doesn’t want to burn down this entire forest for the sake of catching Mew. But they’ll make do. It’s not like this is a typical battle anyways, and if there’s something Goh has learned from Ash, is to think of your environment as something to work with, rather than see it as if it were against you.

“Cinderace, bounce of that trunk and use headbutt, full speed!”

They ought to be careful with burning down the trees, but they are perfect as launching points.

It _hits,_ and Mew cries out as the attack sends it flying across the ground, Altaria’s fluffy form dirtying with the dust as it scrambles back to an upstanding position.

Cinderace leaps back, the distance still narrow but most-likely enough to dodge the next attack.

Altaria rises and frowns and goes full on with a peck-attack. It’s not far enough that it could gather much speed, but it’s powerful all the same, and Cinderace cries out in distress, the repeating pecks hitting its body one after another, pulling balls of its fur in all directions.

Goh freezes in place and worriedly chews his lip as he tries to _think, damn it, do something._

Sometimes Goh will get tunnel-vision, and, _most times,_ that’s all right, because there is often someone by his side to help him see the bigger picture. Not necessarily Ash — though, _sure,_ mostly Ash —, but it has also been Chloe, his parents, the Professors. Cinderace, or any-one of his Pokémon.

Sometimes all Goh needs is to be reminded that, while this very moment is all there is, _this very moment_ is part of something grander, too. He can’t stay stuck on it, he’s got a lot to do still.

Cinderace breaks-free from the peck attack with constant flapping of its arms and ears, distracting Altaria enough that it’s possible for him to jump back into a defensive position.

Goh’s chest floods with relief and, back to his senses, he takes a moment to breath out, because breathing helps you get back in sync with your Pokémon (Ash taught him that, though he can’t remember if it’s something Ash actually _told him,_ or if it was yet another thing Goh picked up from watching him battle). He offers Cinderace a quiet apology for his distraction, nodding once to check if it can continue, and, after receiving a determined nod, Goh exhales loudly through his nose and decides that this moment is far from over.

And he’s going to make every second count.

“Use ember, now! Then close up with a double-kick!”

The double-kick sends Altaria flying off against a trunk-tree, and Goh is already reaching into his pocket for a Poké-ball when, surely enough, Altaria retaliates with another dragon pulse.

It closes up for another peck attack afterwards, and it’s a battle of dodging pecks and double-kicks for counted minutes, both Pokémon panting at the effort, the blooming wounds hindering the effectiveness of the next impact.

But neither of them gives up. Neither of them slows down or lowers the intensity of their attacks.

_This is fun,_ thinks Goh now. And he _knows_ battling is fun, he battles relatively often — because a number of his Pokémon enjoy it, and because he is dating a top-ranking world-champion, so he doesn’t really get to escape the art — but right now, Goh is enjoying this battle with every bone of his body, so much so, that he nearly forgets this isn’t just an Altaria he is fighting (Goh has an Altaria already, if he wanted one he’d have thrown the Poké-ball some minutes ago), but this is _more._ This is Mew.

This is his dream. Right in front of him, practically within reach.

But his dream begins to scramble away, bleeding into a nightmare the moment fair-match Altaria turns into Rampardos.

An _angry-looking_ Rampardos, that is approaching Cinderace headfirst and at full-speed.

And Cinderace _jumps,_ but, _fuck,_ it’s only around mid-air when Rampardos’ head strikes to one of its feet, making the fire-hare spin in the air and smack to the ground with crushing force.

“Cinderace!”

Apparently not-yet-done, Rampardos looks at Cinderace and huffs, beats one leg through the ground a few times, and rams at full-speed again, this time booting Cinderace to a nearby tree.

_Fuck,_ thinks Goh, and he probably says it out-loud, too. Who cares anymore.

At this point, he knows Ash, Pikachu and Tracey are watching them, _have been_ watching them for some time. And Goh has this thing, this silly, let-me-prove-myself-to-you thing that makes him give his one-hundred-and-twenty-percent to his battles, every-time that Ash is watching.

As it turns out, nine out ten chances Ash _is_ watching.

In a way it’s dumb, because Goh knows he’s got nothing to prove. He’s a good trainer, and he knows his Pokémon. He’s learned a lot over the years and is no longer helpless when it comes to encounters with fellow good trainers. Granted, he’s not _Ash,_ multiple times League-champion, and candidate to the Master-class world recognition. But he can definitely hold his own.

But it’s more about making Ash proud, rather than proving himself to the other man. Goh always wants to make Ash proud. As a friend, as a partner; and he doesn’t care for anyone’s opinions of him, but he hangs off from every word of praise that comes out of Ash’s mouth.

More importantly, this is about making this a battle worth watching, worth living through. For Ash, for Cinderace, and for himself.

_Hell, for Mew, too._ Goh wants to be worthy of catching them. Of course he does. That’s what he’s been working toward all these years.

Goh chews on his lip and Ash’s voice in his head to _stop doing that_ helps ground him again. Cinderace begins to stand up, wobbly and limping as it steps forward, but with eyes unyielding in their determination.

“One last push,” he mutters. Then, much louder, he calls, “Cinderace, counter!”

It’s a last resort, he knows, but it’s about the only thing that would work given Cinderace’s status. They’d considerably weakened Altaria, and Goh is counting on the fact that Mew-slash-Rampardos is, too, feeling the weigh of this battle.

Cinderace bounces off a tree again at record speed, using all of the momentum to _pound,_ striking Rampardos on its flank.

The impact causes both Pokémon to fly across the ground, straight into the one tree they keep landing against, and it’s so hard that the trunk finally gives up under the constant pressure and _breaks,_ tilting to its right side and thudding in the midst of a cloud full of dust, branches and leaves.

A full beat passes, and it’s dead silent in the forest apart from Tracey’s somewhat distant, worried gasp. The dust settles and Goh can very distinctly see a passed out Cinderace lying half-on-top of Rampardos, who is shaking its head rapidly, blinking to turn its senses back on.

Mew shrugs Cinderace off, and Goh doesn’t miss the way it does so carefully. Once the fire-hare it’s on its back on the ground, Mew transforms again to its real form.

It pants tiredly and floats unevenly across the distance, until it’s right in front of Goh again, who instinctively reaches to his pocket once more for the Poké-ball — but his hand freezes midway, and he decides against it.

Instead, Goh raises that same hand and points to Mew, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. The defeat tastes bitter, but he’ll wallow in it later.

The battle is over, the encounter is not. “Mew! I’ll catch you!” He promises, to which Mew responds with a curious tilt of its head. “Next time for sure, I’ll win next time!”

Goh may be imagining the last bit, but he swears Mew _smiles_ at him. He is certain he is not imagining the challenge written in the mirroring blue-eyes.

There _will_ be a next time. There’s gotta be.

Mew nods — which, again, Goh isn’t sure he isn’t imagining — and, with one last shrug and that annoying little giggle of theirs, disappears into the thin air.

Goh breaths out, doesn’t let himself cry, and turns his gaze ahead, to where Ash and Pikachu are already kneeling next to Cinderace.

“He’s all right,” reassures the champion, holding Cinderace up.

Goh nods, kneels to the ground as well, about to ask for a Sitrus berry that Ash has already manifested, and is quickly giving to Cinderace.

“Thank you,” murmurs Goh, unsure of whether to Ash or Cinderace. Ash smiles, something sad and sympathetic; Cinderace looks up to its trainer with apologetic eyes, that Goh refuses on the spot. “You were amazing,” he says, his voice breaking a little, “thank you,” he repeats, Cinderace nods, understanding Goh’s finality tone.

Ash understands it, too. And doesn’t say anything as they walk back to the camp, only casually stretches out a hand in offering. It’s not far, but Goh takes in anyways, and expertly handles Tracey’s comments of _‘that was amazing! That was Mew! You battled Mew!’_

_Yeah,_ thinks Goh, as a strange, contradictory pride rouses inside his chest. He battled Mew. He _lost,_ but Tracey doesn’t seem to mind that at all. Doesn’t even mention it. All he talks about is _what a great battle, those double-kicks! Cinderace is so cool!_

And, _yeah,_ Cinderace is _the best._ Goh is so proud of him for that battle. He gave it his all.

Goh gave it his all, too. He tries to look back and not go too hard on himself over his hesitations and mistakes, he tries to remind himself that he knows better.

But the pungent flavor of defeat is thickening in his mouth as the hours after the battle tick by. And it’s hard to push back the discomfort that comes with the implications of his defeat. The insecurity that rises as he notes how, once again, he’d missed his chance.

That was _Mew._ He practically had it.

And he lost.

**[May 1st, 19:33, Cleopatra Island, Beach shore]**

The one thing Ash believes he has successfully mastered — after many, many years — is the art of losing gracefully.

He has gone from childish frustration, and lashing out to his team for _his_ shortcomings, to accepting that losing is essential to getting stronger. It comes with the territory.

Every battle is different, unpredictable, and creativity will get you where well-crafted strategies sometimes _don’t._

It’s that old saying, ‘you win some, you lose some’, but there is always more training ahead, more battles; new, stronger opponents to match.

Ash has learned all of this because he’s lived through one too-many loses, and even now, standing proud at one of the top-ranking positions in the World Championship, he doesn’t allow himself the arrogance to think of himself as invincible. Because there is no such thing as invincible.

Ash has stood _so close_ to winning leagues, has been a runner-up and lost championships by milliseconds, and those defeats went from being impossibly painful and frustrating to… _still_ painful and frustrating, but to a lesser degree, the irk of defeat morphing into something manageable, that allows room to process and _grow._ To look back into those losses and learn from them, find in them ways to get stronger.

You walk across that arena and hold the other person’s hand with your head up, recognize them as the winner and congratulate them, because it’s been a fair match and you have both given it your all. Your Pokémon have given it their all as well, and their effort should be respected.

You bite back the frustration and the bitterness and instead learn to let bloom admiration and patience. And it’s _so fucking hard,_ sometimes, especially when you are so sure, when you want something so much, so desperately.

And it’s got nothing to do with the other person being better or wanting it more. And nothing to do with how _they_ handle their win or their loss.

_This is your journey, Ash, it’s what you do what counts._

Leon said that to him years back, on the first— and still only — occasion Ash defeated him, and, while Ash spent most of the following evening trying to compute the fact that he had _won,_ Leon took the defeat with an awful calmness, congratulating Ash profusely all throughout.

It’s been years, but Ash still finds himself emotional when he remembers how _proud_ Leon genuinely was. How kind and open he was to every last one of Ash’s questions and comments after the battle.

_Aren’t you upset you lost? — No. Why, would you have been?_

Ash wanted to say _yes,_ he would’ve been _so upset_ to lose against Leon once more, after so many encounters in which he had been _so close, almost had it_. But he pondered the question, _really_ thought about for a long moment, and was dumbfounded at the realization that, _actually, I don’t… I don’t think so?_

He’s still lost many battles since then, on official matches, against newcomers and experimented trainers alike, and he’s won thrice as much, he’s learned through all of them. But his entire perspective regarding defeat has changed, _keeps changing,_ just as Ash himself does.

It’s been nearly ten years, and Ash knows, clear as he knows few other things, that he’s still walking through the beginning of this journey.

Though for all of his introspection and growth, Ash will admit that he still gets terribly frustrated sometimes. He doesn’t lash out immaturely anymore ( _eh…_ for the most part), he’s discovered wiser ways to cope. But none of that takes away from the fact that losing still _sucks._ Big time.

And if Ash had just lost a battle versus his lifelong dream, he sure wouldn’t be taking it too well.

He, too, would’ve gotten quiet and broody and probably stormed off without having dinner. He would’ve probably wanted to get far away from the camp, to the furthest point he could find (which in an isle like this, turned out to be the beach).

But Ash sure as hell wouldn’t have forgotten his coat. Because they are _still_ in an island and the nights this North of the region are _freezing. And you get cold easily, idiot, don’t just walk off like that, at least grab some gloves — anything!_

Goh didn’t actually seem so terribly discouraged after his loss. He seemed a little off at first, but Ash credited that to the common post-high everyone experiences after a good battle.

He didn’t snap at Tracey, or rejected holding Ash’s hand, nor did he reject the gentle caresses Ash offered when they returned to the camp. He even hugged Ash back!

If he’d been truly upset, Goh wouldn’t have accepted any type of touch.

They tended to Cinderace’s wounds (nothing major at first glance, but they’d be taking him to a Pokémon-center if the limping continued for another day), and afterwards Goh went back to working on their research (which Ash _knows_ could well just be Goh trying to get his head off the whole thing), but he had this serious look in his face that said, _please, let’s just get back to work._

And Ash hated to leave things like these feeling unfinished, but they were on a schedule, and he knew it’d be pointless to try and talk it out before Goh was ready.

Ash figured they’d talk about it in their tent, before going to sleep or something. It should be fine.

But then Goh skipped dinner, with a weak-excuse of running the data one last time (Tracey was with them, the data was perfect) _,_ and when Ash walked into their tent some twenty minutes later, Goh wasn’t there anymore. Cinderace and Lucario offering shrugging shoulders and confused looks, at a loss of where the other trainer had gone.

Ash sighed, noticed Goh’s windbreaker still folded in his bag, and decided that it had been enough of letting the process run and do its thing. He was ready to meddle.

Finding Goh isn’t actually hard, this Island is large, but Ash’s knowledge of Goh is much larger.He remembers how Goh would often call from the shore at the Aether Foundation, or the beach-clearing in front of Kukui and Burnet’s house when he was in a mood, or simply wanted to spend some time by himself.

So Ash sets course for the beach where they had landed earlier that morning and, sure enough, standing by the shore — barefoot and with his trousers up to his calves —is Goh, receiving the breaking waves in deep contemplation.

_And shivering,_ notices Ash, irritation and worry muddling in his chest, becoming nothing but resigned affection, his overbearing need to look after Goh greater than anything else.

He walks with stealth steps until he’s standing right behind Goh, dropping the jacket onto his shoulders, and tentatively placing his hands to his hips, fingers gently grazing the skin.

But Goh receives the touch easily, hums appreciatively as he leans back, so that his spine is resting fully to Ash’s chest, who takes the hint and wraps both arms to his partner’s middle, no hesitation this time.

Ash kisses Goh’s temple, warm lips contrasting with the dropping temperature at the shore, and whispers. “You all right?”

Goh shrugs meekly, which goes unnoticed by Ash, but the little, resigned sigh he let’s out doesn’t. “I’m all right,” Goh responds, and it’s true; It feels true, and he believes his own words as he says them. Ash hums as if mostly believed it, too. “I wasn’t even close, this time.” And there is some bitter disappointment there, sure, because that’s inevitable. But mostly he’s just stating a fact. And with facts Goh can deal with.

“I wouldn’t say that.” Ash comments; and he doesn’t say the next thing as Goh’s partner, as his lover, or even as his friend. He objectively looks back into that afternoon’s event as an experimented trainer. As a _champion,_ and decides: “Your battle was fantastic.”

And to Goh, whose side-goal had been to make Ash proud, and give him a battle worthy of admiration, those words are the biggest reassurance he could’ve received. “Thank you,” he says, because it’s the polite thing to say. But also because he means it. “I still lost, though.”

Ash hums again. “Yeah. But you’ll win the next one,” he says, nuzzling Goh’s cheek with the tip of his cold nose, which makes the researcher squirm away with an involuntary giggle.

He’s not promising Goh anything, but merely repeating Goh’s own words from that afternoon.

_Next time for sure. I’ll win next time._

That’s what Goh’s been thinking about, while watching the waves drag through the sand, feeling the cold in his feet and on his bare legs.

It’s what he keeps thinking about right now, as Ash’s safe, warming hug holds him in place, but his mind remains somewhere above them, somewhere far in the horizon, all the way up to the starring skies.

What will happen after that next time, huh? What will be of Goh’s dream the day he finally holds Mew within the bounds of _his_ Poké-ball?

He’s been thinking of that moment since he was six.

It’s ever changing, from a simple toss-and-catch to an elaborate performance.

To a battle versus Altaria, versus Rampardos, versus Primarina or Rowlet or Pidgey. Every Pokémon in his roaster and yet none of them at all. Not quite.

It’s gone from something within reach — something he could _hold in the palm of his hand —_ to chasing after a cloud of smoke. After a shiny, _almost there_ type of light. Too faint to be real, too bright to be a figment.

It’s not as if Goh wants to give up. Far from it. And he meant his words earlier. He’s meant it every single time he’s spoken of his dream.

He _will_ catch Mew, one day. And he _will_ complete a perfect Pokédex.

But then — what happens _then?_

It’s not like him, to get this caught up in his head and onto the what-ifs, he’s been working on that, and he spends his days by the side of someone who, quite literally, lives for the every-day and nothing more.

But that battle knocked down more than just a tree, and Goh found himself walking through the dusted alleyways of his mind, the ones that led to worrisome and fruitless futures that Goh _didn’t_ want, but that couldn’t be completely out of the question, either.

There’s rumbling from distant thunders on some other island nearby, and as if sensing his rising distress, Ash squeezes around his middle once. Tight, grounding. Just what Goh needs.

Ah, right. He’s not alone in this.

He’s not alone in any of it.

“Ash,” says Goh, a quiet, muttering question. He receives an equally soft, open _mm?_ noise in response, which prompts him on. “When you make it to number one.” _When,_ because there is no doubt, in either of their minds, that Ash will be at the summit one day. “It won’t — won’t be over for you yet, right?”

_You won’t be a master yet, right?_

Because it’s much grander than being number one in the world. It’s much grander than winning every League, or having the strongest Pokémon.

Those are stepping stones; and the limit —what awaits at the top —,Ash has yet to see.

Goh doubts he’s even mentally reached the limit of his ambitions. Goh doubts such limit even exists.

It’s an odd, contradictory comfort, when you find someone whose dream is as insane as yours.

Goh wants nothing more than to witness Ash succeed, and at the same time, he wishes against himself that it, too, takes him a lifetime to get there, that they can keep working towards these seemingly unreachable goals, taking the strides one after another. Together.

Because outside of his dreams (that lay on his hands, and on his hands _alone_ ), the only other thing Goh wants is to stay by Ash’s side, for the rest of their lives.

And that’s not something Goh can do on his own.

But he breaths that one out easily, as Ash drops another comforting kiss to his layered shoulder, deep in thought at the question Goh’s just thrown at him.

They have many dreams, a lot of them different. But _this one?_ This one they share.

“It won’t be over for me,” responds Ash finally, almost turning Goh’s question into a statement. “Even if I stay as number one for many years.” Which they both know he will. “I don’t think that’s it.”

Goh hums, and, yeah, it’s kind of what he had expected. “Do you know when — ”

“Nah,” intervenes Ash, shrugging, and making them both shake a bit with the movement. He settles back, then puts his chin to Goh’s shoulder, their faces pressed together side-to-side. “But I’ll know when it happens. I’m sure.”

Ash replies to the ocean in front of them, but Goh feels as perceived as if their eyes were locked.

He nods. He doesn’t quite understand, doesn’t quite _feel it_ so clearly, but he gets what Ash means, and that’s enough for right now.

Ash bumps his back with his other shoulder, and Goh tips forward but doesn’t fear losing his balance, because the arms haven’t loosened their hold, and Ash would never let him fall.

He hears his partner chuckle, the noise new and almost loud in contrast to all the whispering that has been this conversation. Goh is about to question it when Ash speaks again. “Don’t worry, you will know, too.”

Goh releases his own breathier, almost choked version of a laugh, the emotion of his loss and Ash’s words and his spiraling mind wanting to make him cry. But he bites back the tears again and replaces them with a smile instead.

Replaces that anguish with the present, homey feeling of Ash around him, and briefly entertains himself with a memory from that morning. Of feeling full and loved and cherished, basking in the certainty that _this_ is something he gets to keep. _This_ is something that, some-time ago, was also only a dream. A dream that became real.

The realest thing Goh knows.

“You’re sure?” He asks, because he needs to hear it.

Ash delivers. “I’m sure,” he repeats. “After all, this is our dream, right?”

Is not catching Mew he means. Or catching every Pokémon known to man. Those are Goh’s dream.

And It’s not becoming a Pokémon master. That’s Ash’s dream.

It’s something they promised a long time ago, way before they were together like this.

Something that was innocent and kind and _theirs._ Cradled in their young, clumsy hands, getting stronger with each passing day, with each new adventure.

It’s a promise. But it’s also a dream, that grows and branches and creates many more into itself.

It’s the future Goh one day wants to hold in his hands. Literally.

He thinks back on that afternoon, pushing the defeat and the intrusive thoughts aside, and stays with his grounding mid-battle realization that _this moment is all there is, but it is, too, part of something grander._

He breaths out, this time to sync back with Ash, who is easily humming some cheesy song, head back to resting on Goh’s shoulder, content with simply holding him, giving them some more minutes before ushering their below-recommended-temperature-bodies back up the shore and into the camp.

And Goh knows he needn’t reply. He knows Ash _knows._ Ash understands.

But he feels like answering anyways.

“Right,” he says, a little sigh that gets lost with the break of a wave, but that Ash catches clearly all the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shoutout to Tracey because i /didn't/ forget about him, I just hadn't found the right moment yet. Tracey&Misty isn't like...a ship i'm crazy about?? but it's not the oddest thing i've ever heard either, so we're gonna run with it.
> 
> The last chapter is going to be painful to write, I didn't think i'd be so attached to this story but i love her, she's my baby and she'll be missed, but I'll try and keep it light so we can all end on a happy note.
> 
> thank you kindly kindly for reading. I adore you! see you around soon! x


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sighs* I just — I’ll see ya at the end. Thank you.
> 
> (Ah, darn, wait. your warnings:
> 
> E-rated bit: [March 25th, 7:37,] 
> 
> TW! Very light description of a panic attack: [March 30th, 17:24 ])
> 
> all right final chapter, read away:

**[May 7th, 10:55, Valencia Island, Professor Ivy’s Lab]**

“Pikachu, iron tail!”

“Dodge and use psychic, Espeon.”

It’s always put-off Ash a little, the way Ava calls her attacks so calmly, as if she were telling her Pokémon to help out in the garden, and not to use deadly strikes against its opponents. He’s used to the excitement, to the fast-movement and the eagerness to battle, and here, in striking — yet quite powerful still — contrast is Ava, who battles with ease, and calls things like ‘seismic toss’ with the same voice that she would use to announce there are cut watermelons in the lounge room.

She’s still handed Ash defeat in a crystal plate a few times, so he knows much better than to underestimate her.

Tracey and Goh half-watch the battle from a distance, slightly more focused on the Pinkan sapling Goh had brought several weeks back. It’s still far from producing any fruit, but its development alone offers some valuable data, and the Pokémon in Felina’s garden seem to enjoy its faint aroma, regardless of berry offerings, or lack thereof.

“She’s been wanting one of these for _years,”_ comments Tracey, spraying water over the fresh leaves, “you became her favorite the day you brought this.”

Goh laughs good-naturedly, nods his head to where he’s just heard Ash call for a thunderbolt. “I thought Ava was her favorite?” He hints, only because he kinda enjoys the way Tracey _ughs_ and rolls his eyes.

“They’re the worst.” Tracey complains. “I don’t even get what the big deal is, they should just get together already.” As he says this, the boom of an explosion calls the attention back to the battle; it seems that Espeon countered Pikachu’s thunderbolt with an attack of his own, though Goh didn’t hear what it was.

He meets eyes with Tracey and nods, and they both stand and turn on their way towards the impromptu battle area their friends have chosen.

Goh doesn’t really _know_ what’s going on between Professor Ivy and Ava, he only knows that they seem to be terribly close, and that their ‘dancing around it’ drives Tracey a little mad. But, aside from the few times he’s walked in on them standing _too close,_ he can’t say he’s ever seen them be anything but strictly professional.

If he were pressed to give an opinion on it, Goh would say that, _sure, they are quite cute together,_ age difference and all.

As the dust settles, Goh sees a still standing, muddled up Pikachu, next to a fainted, equally dirty Espeon. Ash and Ava are already by their Pokémon side, shaking hands with knowing expressions on their faces.

“Thank you,” says Ava, her dark locks wavering gently with the breeze.

Ash replies in kind, and compliments her last attacks.

“We’ve been practicing, could you tell?” she winks, in a way that makes Ash blush a little.

It’s probably the thing Goh likes the most about Ava, how she’s so confident in herself, and has this sort of… _wickedness_ to her. She seems kind and easygoing ( _she is),_ but she’s also flirty and playful, and loves to fluster the people around her.

She’s also probably the only person who could ever flirt with Ash without raising a reaction from Goh, other than a complicit chuckle.

“You scared off the Skorupi,” says Tracey with a pout, who’d been looking after a small family of the bug-types that were hanging out by the pond earlier that morning.

Ava shrugs, “they’ll be back, don’t get all whiny.” Tracey narrows his eyes and pokes his tongue out at the jibe. Cool as ice, Ava ignores him and returns her attention to Ash, looking up from the ground as she helps Espeon back on his feet. He’s not harmed at all, and her easy smile returns as she challenges: “You know, _young master,_ my cousin said he was ready for his rematch.”

Eyes widened, Ash darts a nervous hand to rub the back of his head, nervous laughter leaving him. “Ah. Ha… well, I don’t…I don’t even know if I’ll get to battle him this year…”

Goh scrunches his face in confusion. Why does it sound like Ash is doubting himself?

“You’ve beaten Lance already,” the blue-eyed-man offers, as he walks up to his partner’s side.

Ash nods, still looking nervous, “ _yeah,_ two years ago. He’s gotten crazy strong since then.”

Ava hums. “He said he’d meet you at the Master-class qualifiers?” It’s anything but an innocent question, since Ava damn well knows they’re both participating, as she herself is contending for a spot in the top one-hundred.

“I’d have to beat Bea first…” tries Ash again, and Goh shakes his head in disbelief because, _yeah, that’s definitely Ash doubting himself._

And that’s simply unacceptable.

“He’s going to win.” Declares Goh, and where Ash’s voice sounds uncertain, his is filled with nothing but conviction.

Ava smirks, pleased at receiving the answer she’d been hoping for. “Why,” she says, smirk turning wicked by the second, “that’s exactly what I said! You clearly train _so hard…_ ” She steps into Ash’s space, her four-inch heels making her a good-head taller, her piercing eyes making Ash feel minute. She turns his head up with a steady hand to his chin, boring her green eyes into Ash’s panicky ones, blinking innocently at him. “And you’re so _handsome.”_ Ash gulps, Goh and Tracey snickering quietly somewhere in the vicinity. “The face of a winner, wouldn’t you agree, Goh?”

She never tears her eyes away from Ash, and Ash is too caught up to look away, momentarily hypnotized by green orbs and deep voices.

Until he feels Goh’s shoulder press to his own, his voice crips as he replies. “Definitely.” It’s all he says, but it helps Ash snap back to reality. To Ava’s evil smile and a challenging glint, just as she steps back, acting as if she hadn’t just stood millimeters away from his face.

“Let’s have another match then,” proposes Ava, referring to the qualifiers that are still months away. “I heard Leon might call another top-something camp?”

This too puts Ash off some, how Ava will make someone lose their cool so easily, while remaining so nonchalant herself, changing topics from the weather to economics to _did you know that ancient Pokémon civilizations…?_

_(_ It’s going on five years since they first met her, at that internship program Professor Cerise offered to recent college graduates interested in working with Pokémon and their behavior. She spent three whole months getting on their nerves (Ash’s nerves, Goh, Chloe, and everyone else apparently love her), and ever since, she’s been pin-balling across labs in every other region, all professors opening their arms and projects to her with her flying recommendations from one area to the other.

Though she’s been at the Orange Archipelago for nearly two years now, which is the longest Ash has heard she’s stayed _anywhere._ And _maybe_ there’s something to Tracey’s constant gossip of how she’s got a fling with Professor. Ivy. Maybe love is strong enough to make her want to stay).

So many years, and Ash’s still somewhat at a loss of what to make of Ava. She’s a friend and a rival and a great scientist. But she’s also possibly out of her mind, a ruthless trainer, with a Pokémon roaster among the strangest Ash has ever seen (and _yes,_ he’s counting Goh’s).

“Not for another year, at least.” Is what Ash replies to her comment. He knows, because Leon will be out of anyone’s reach until at least December, if his current mission works out as they expect. “But, ah — I’m sure you’ll make it to the next one.”

Ava smiles at the encouragement, cool exterior breaking into something sunny and almost teenage-y, her twenty-somethings melting into youthful excitement.

“I’ll see you at the top ranks before you know it!” She promises.

Ash laughs and tells her he’ll be waiting, and agrees to battling again in October, when the qualifiers begin.

Goh takes in the scene without further comments. He doesn’t miss the way Ash encourages Ava to work hard for her future battles, nor does he miss the way he didn’t quite recover from his insecurity, and instead simply lets the conversation shift elsewhere.

That’s…Goh knows this year’s official tournaments are important, they are serious. He knows Ash has been working relentlessly to meet his fellow champions at the top eight. He _knows_ how much pressure Ash puts on himself to keep getting stronger and better as a trainer.

But he didn’t know he was feeling _this_ uncertain about his own abilities. Even if it was a momentary brush of self-doubt, it’s not like Ash to call anything but success on his encounters, no matter the opponent.

Felina calls for them some moments later, and the way Ava was turning her way before the other woman even spoke would have been eery, if only Goh weren’t so caught in his thoughts at the moment.

He thinks the way Professor Ivy lights up when she sees Ava is cute, though. And he silently agrees with Tracey that they should get their act together once and for all.

Still, he knows better than to speak out of place with a superior, and he dutifully runs through the work they’ve done that week for the remaining of their visit, while Ash and Tracey double check their tickets and access passes to the islands left on the list.

It feels as though it’s been forever, but — finally — they are almost through.

Goh hears _Pummelo island_ from the other side of the lab, and sees Tracey teasingly elbowing Ash, who blushes and shakes his head with a mumbled _shut up already._

Goh hums and nods to Ava’s words, having not understood a single one of her entire sentence. Instead, he tries to whisk as much as he can from what Tracey and Ash are talking about, and decides that, while the Dragonite tales are fascinating, there’s a more important reason to visit now.

**[March 25th, 7:37, Tangelo Island, the large house with no bathtub and a balcony]**

Ash walks through the front door in a dash, snapping off his shoes and rushing across the main floor to the kitchen.

The ruckus of his entrance is enough of a warning, but he’s kind enough to loudly call Goh’s name around the house as well. He’s going to slide off and fall on his face one of these days, Goh laments, with the way he runs around the polished wooden floors so carelessly.

“I’m home!” Ash chants, walking into the kitchen and immediately grabbing an apple from the fruit-bowl on the center isle, Pikachu and Lucario right behind him, shuffling their feet and panting for water.

Goh nods to where he’s set some bowls and glasses for them to have after their run, as he hands a glass of ice-water to Ash with an ignored indication to _not drink too fast._

“Welcome back,” Goh finally replies, with a resigned sigh at the way Ash gets a head-freeze from gulping down his water at once.

Goh is a little — just _mildly —_ annoyed this morning, because Ash woke up and left the bed too quietly, too quickly; and Goh, who is still adjusting to the house and the island, wasn’t too pleased at finding himself all alone in that ridiculous king-size bed, inside an equally ridiculously large room.

He would’ve rather they wake up together, and if Ash was so keen on working out… _well,_ Goh could have helped with that, too. He had some good ideas.

But those seem to have flown out the — _absurd —_ colonial windows now. They have a day to get to and breakfast to tackle first, he’s already halfway through with buttering some bread, the fruit is fresh and there’s coffee and—

And then Ash does this _disgusting_ thing where he pulls his shirt up to wipe the sweat off his face, simultaneously revealing the well-defined muscles on his midriff, that are, too, glistening with a light-layer of sweat.

_Terrible. Awful. How dare he —_ Goh’s gaze gets lost down Ash’s happy trail, mouth suddenly dry, and, _hey_ , _what-ever had he done with that water pitcher?_

Distracted, he nearly misses Ash’s rushed explanations, “…quick shower, I’ll be out in a second to help you with breakfast…” he’s saying, chewing off his apple, and walking past Goh by the kitchen isle to soak the glass in the sink.

Goh blinks. “You’re taking a shower?” He asks back, dumbly.

Ash gives him a curious side-glance. “Um, yeah, ‘course.” Well, _of course._ He can’t have breakfast like that, drenched in sweat, that musk smell lingering in the air. That’d be… er… gross. “But I’ll be back right away!” Keeps saying Ash, mouth full of apple. “Leave the fruit to me!”

But Goh is shaking his head, and Ash, who’s been obliviously moving around the kitchen, takes a moment’s pause to fully address his partner, who instead seems to be entirely focused on Ash, blue-eyes darting up and down over his sweaty, worked out body with — _oh._

Ash knows that look on Goh. Could recognize it anywhere.

He’s _hungry._

Just not for food.

Ash swallows his bite, gulping loudly, and leaves his half-finished snack over the counter as the ghost of a smirk draws on his face. “Wanna join me?” He asks, expectant, voice suddenly grave.

Goh nods, “uh-huh,” he agrees, and it’s seconds before he’s hurriedly pulling Ash into the general direction of whichever bathroom he finds first.

**_-0-_ **

Goh still thinks it’s a bit ridiculous for such a large, elegant house to have no bathtub. There’s _four_ bathrooms, each one of them nicer than the last (the ensuite in the master bedroom has a chandelier. A chandelier! In a bathroom!) —, but, apparently, no tubs.

It’s one of the oddities that have struck Goh the most. That and the lights, which seem to work on their own volition, and not very much care for whether you turn the switches on or off.

“Maybe it’s haunted,” suggests Ash, as he presses Goh’s chest against the glass wall of the shower, mouthing down the line of his neck.

The water’s turned to just the right temperature (arbitrarily decided by Goh on the day of their arrival. Not hot, obviously, but not freezing cold. A whimsical balance of sorts, that Goh enjoys and that Ash simply doesn’t question).

The spraying drops fall over and around them, but Goh feels as though he might start sweating anyways, with the way Ash presses their bodies together, his uncanny warmth radiating. “It’s too, _mm —_ too nice to be haunted,” he argues back, darting his own hand to hold Ash’s neck to keep him there.

Ash drawls a hum into a love-bite. “The lab is nice, and it was haunted.”

“The lab was _Gengar,”_ reminds the researcher, breath hitching as his boyfriend’s fingers pinch at a pert nipple.

It’s not a far-fetched theory, but other than flickery lights, it doesn’t have much to stand on. The house is old, sure, but it really is just too elegant, too… _distinguished_ to be haunted. Besides, it’s a bit cliche to assume that _just because_ a place is classic it automatically means it’s possessed by some —

“ _Ash,”_ Goh gasps, feeling a slick, surprising finger enter him suddenly. Or maybe he’d been warned? He’d been distracted with the possibility of —

“Stop thinking already,” chastises the trainer, cupping Goh’s cheek and tilting his head sideways for a kiss, deep and heady, positively shutting down every non-Ash related thought in Goh’s brain.

There are no tubs in this house, but the showers are twice the size of the one in their apartment.

At first it had unsettled Goh a bit, because he was used to a tight space that forced them to stand virtually plastered to one another, bodies always somehow in contact. It meant limited movement, but it had its own charm.

_(_ The little ceramic tiles would feel warm, and the mirrors would fog while they kissed and stroked each other to completion, as there was not enough room to do much else. They were always under the calculated risk of a foot sliding off and tromping them both against a wall, some sort of mild injury granted).

But _these_ showers were considerably larger, and Goh is beginning to realize that has its upsides, too. Like how they can do much, _much_ more than just wander hands below the navel. (Turns out they can _kneel_ as well, and turn around and about without many complications).

There’s even enough space to —

“ _Ah,_ right there,” Goh moans, when Ash adds another finger and twirls it inside. “Are you going to — ?” He’s interrupted by his own gasp.

But Ash understands. “Do you _want_ me to…?”

“ _Yes,”_ cries the blue-eyed man, an exclamation and a confirmation at once.

Ash chortles quietly at his desperation. Mouth pressed to Goh’s ear, he takes the lobe in his teeth and pulls playfully, ruts his hips to Goh’s lower back and rips a moan from both of them. He’s going to need more lube, and some creative licenses to make sure neither of them dies in the midst of this tryst.

That’d be a pity. He’s enjoying himself.

He slides his fingers out, and captures Goh’s resulting whine with his mouth as he turns him around, a mumbled comfort of _I know, baby, just hold on a sec,_ before he’s blindly fumbling for the lube on the tiles (Goh apparently manifests them out of thin air, for which Ash is most grateful).

He finds it and soaks there fingers in it, then trails them lazily down Goh’s back until they’re at the cleft of his ass again. With his other hand he takes a hold of Goh’s erection, before pressing up impossibly closer, pinning him to the wall, and slotting their cocks together so he can stroke himself as well.

At Goh’s broken cry, he slides the first finger back in.

“ _Ash.”_

_How is he so good at this?_ Wonders Goh, gasping for air as he needlessly balances with his hands to Ash’s shoulders. It’s like _knows_ exactly what buttons to push, the precise moment to do it, too.

Ash only laughs and dives in for a new kiss, licking into Goh’s mouth, muffling the sounds as he adds another finger, and not much later the third one. He’s just being diligent, really, because Goh was already open and pliant, but he’d rather not take his chances. If Goh plans to take _all_ of Ash, then two fingers for a couple of minutes is definitely _not_ enough.

He wishes Goh would understand this. “ _Come on,”_ his boyfriend insists, voice breathy and choked but still plenty demanding, nails digging into the meat of Ash’s shoulders, both for leverage and as punishment.

Ash bites his bottom lip in retaliation, conscious of how hypocritical that is. _Calm down, idiot,_ he quips back, _I gotta make sure you’re ready._

_“I am,”_ whines Goh, needy little sound ruining Ash’s resolve.

The champion curls his fingers in again, twisting his wrist _just so_ over their lengths and, feeling Goh’s legs almost give out, decides that, _yeah, that’s probably good enough._

_“_ All right,” Ash relents, speaking only because he knows the way his voice affects Goh, “you’re ready now.”

Goh mewls and nods his agreement, cupping Ash’s face with one hand to bring him in for another kiss, his other closing over the watered down raven tresses.

There’s a fleeting, silly afterthought of how they’re probably wasting _so much water,_ and that it’s probably warmer than it needs be while they’re fooling around and not actually trying to get clean, but his environmental concerns quickly die as he feels Ash take his fingers out and put his hand away, guiding both of them to Goh’s waist to turn him around once more, his lips hot against Goh’s shoulder and his deep, gravel voice a sweet murmur of assurances as he slides home.

Goh tips his head back in pleasure when Ash bottoms out, resting to the trainer’s opposite shoulder, and Ash takes advantage of the angle to slide his lips up his neck; _beautiful,_ he muses, and Goh feels himself melt as he tries to push his hips back and prompt Ash to _move already._

So Ash complies, thrusting his hips _once,_ then menacingly biting the soft skin he’d just been kissing.

Goh grunts, dissatisfied.

“You’re killing the mood,” Ash complains, pouting out his lips, but mooting his own point as he starts a slow, tender rhythm, that makes Goh huff in indulgence and desperation.

“You’re killing _me,”_ rebuts Goh.

Breathing out a half-laugh, Ash laves over the bite-mark.

_Honestly, Goh._

“Hands against the glass,” Ash instructs, eliciting a deliciously submissive full body-shudder from Goh, who obeys at once and slams both palms to the flat, foggy surface.

With a sigh (and because he is whipped beyond salvation), Ash fastens both of his large hands to his lover’s waist, and, certain that they won’t crumble off the fancy-glass-wall and break something, he promptly _rams_ into Goh, unforgiving, fueling on every last one of his sounds.

“This what you wanted?” Ash asks, between ragged breaths and grunted moans, hips snapping back and forth with an impossible rhythm.

Which is more than Goh himself can muster at the moment.

_No,_ thinks Goh, this is _more._ Ash always gives him more. Always gives him everything.

Mind fogged up, Goh manages a weak nod and a responding mewl. He feels full, surrounded. _Taken._ And it’s marvelous, to let go like this and leave his body in his partner’s ever-attentive care. To be certain that Ash will deliver. Give in to Goh’s every wish.

“ _Ngh — Ash…_ h-harder.” It’s already pretty forceful. But Goh wants more. He knows Ash can do more.

Ash curses into the shell of his ear — which is strangely hot — and he thrusts hard enough that the glass _shakes_ with the impact. “We’re gonna — _fuck —_ gonna fall,” he warns, but Goh doesn’t register it. Doesn’t really care, either.

Besides, “you wouldn’t let us.” Goh reminds, with uncanny eloquence, considering how high he feels right now.

Then Ash hits _that_ little spot that makes his vision turn white, and Goh decides he’s done making sense.

The trainer curses again, and bites into Goh’s nape to ground a bit. He re-accommodates his hands, one still to Goh’s hip, the other meeting Goh’s in the glass wall, lacing their fingers together.

Goh chortles, a breathy sound that Ash eats up greedily. “ _Sap,”_ he teasingly muses.

  
Ash laughs as well, giving a pointed thrusts that was meant as punishment, but that Goh seems to enjoy too much for it to be right. He doesn’t grace Goh with a reply to the quip, but he does plaster his chest to Goh’s back, and draws him in for another heady kiss, his hips still moving sensually.

Goh moans into his mouth, running out of air but staying close, trading watery kisses and panting into the narrow space between their mouths.

Moving his free-hand from the wall, Goh darts it back and takes a hold of Ash’s hair again, pulling his head forward until he can speak into his ear. “ _Please,”_ he breaths. He’s not asking for anything in particular, but Ash knows what he means all the same.

Harder. Faster. _More._ Whispered like that, over a broken whimper and with a playful tug at his hair, more than a desperate plea for release, it’s a direct command for action.

Ash gasps and smashes their mouths together again, momentarily overwhelmed by the hair-pull and Goh’s — frankly, _unfair —_ tactics to get him to do what he wants.

He pulls out, and Goh whines and complains because he’s needy like that, but he complies all the same when Ash turns him around once more, arms looping around the trainer’s neck with natural ease, moaning again into a new kiss when Ash takes him in his hand again, full-on whimpering when he realizes Ash is stroking himself as well.

It’s what he’s used to. It’s what their small shower back home allows. And it’s delicious every time.

It’s also over quickly after that. It was already too much, and this is Ash just being a sappy idiot, because maybe he is feeling nostalgic, but most likely because he likes them to kiss as they reach their peak.

  
Goh secures a hand to Ash’s hair, pulls accordingly to draw some cute, low moans from him, and he lets the other one wander down, over the muscles he was fantasizing a while ago, nails grazing the skin and making Ash grunt and bite into Goh’s lower lip again, releasing it slowly when he realizes what he’s done.

Smiling indulgently, Goh pecks him again and meets his eyes. They’re a little hooded, quite hazy, too, clouded with pleasure and desire, and that familiar determination Ash never relents, even when his end-goal is something other than winning a battle.

“ _So good,”_ breaths-out Goh again, head tipping back into the glass-wall, Ash’s hand still moving over them, savvy and fast and — “ _Ash, I’m — close.”_ That’s as good a warning as he’s probably going to be able to give. He presses Ash’s face into his neck, and his other hand lazily cruises until it meets his partner’s own between their bodies.

Ash’s hands are larger, but Goh’s fingers are a little longer, a little leaner, and when he wraps his hand over his boyfriend’s one to join him in the fast-paced stroking over their lengths, all it takes is a handful of strokes or so before they’re both coming, spurs of their release breaking out and washed away immediately, joined by a broken, loud cry from Goh that dies into Ash’s ready mouth, his own gasp lost to the searing kiss they melt into.

It’s breathless and short, but they savor it until it’s over, hold onto the swept of their tongues to stretch out the high of their orgasm, of which they come down from slowly and clinging to each other, craving the closeness, the feeling of being absolutely wrapped in one-another.

Ash comes back to consciousness first, mouth moving from Goh’s own to his cheek, a watery kiss pressed there, repeated to his cheek-bone and his temple, until he feels Goh’s hand skid down his hair and wrap to the back of his neck, a happy, heartwarming giggle leaving him, that has the space in Ash’s ribcage suddenly feeling tight, a little too full.

Stupid Goh, roping him into dangerous, foolish shower-sex, wasting water and taking definitely longer than they should to get ready. Stupid, perfect, _beautiful_ Goh, with his cloudy blue eyes and his dopey smile that practically _calls_ for Ash to kiss him again. Stupid Goh who clings for the remaining of the shower, pouting cutely and telling Ash to _please wash my hair?_

As if Ash could deny him. As if Ash didn’t love running his hands down the dark-brown tresses that, damped down, easily reach Goh’s shoulders, funny curls forming at the end of the longer ends.

As if Ash didn’t live for moments like this. For praising Goh and chanting silly nothings as he works to actually _get them clean_ under the spray of shower. For the way they laugh and tease each other, or the way Goh’s hands feel as he returns the favor and washes Ash’s back, deft fingers that feel like a caress.

Goh is right. He _is_ a sap, a mawkish, in-love disaster, too far gone for his own good, but also too far gone to care.

But that’s just the way Ash rolls. Full-on, without hesitation, with all his might. Why should love be any different? Isn’t this — out of everything — the one thing he should actually give his all to?

He’s no expert, and he’s never been with anyone but Goh — he doesn’t _ever_ want to be with anyone but Goh — but Ash reckons that, if he’s been at this for over four years, and they can be this happy when together, he’s gotta be doing _something_ right.

Goh must thinks so, too, if they way he kisses Ash and sweetly reminds him how much he loves him is any indication.

Yeah, Ash is a sappy mess. But it’s quite all right, Goh is one, too.

-0-

Just as they exit the shower — some uncounted, but _long_ minutes later —Goh hands Ash a towel to put around his neck, and he’s halfway through stretching his arm when the bright lamp of the bathroom begins a wavy dance, on and off for a few mysterious seconds, and it’s strange, because Goh doesn’t remember seeing _this_ lamp act out before.

They watch intently for a moment, but nothing more happens and, almost as if it hadn’t happened at all, the light comes back to full brightness and stays on.

Ash shares a curious look with his boyfriend. “Haunted.” It’s all he says, walking past Goh in route to the door.

“ _Not haunted,”_ rebuts Goh automatically, sounding more convinced than he feels.

Ash shrugs, clearly unconvinced, but letting the issue go easily in the benefit of padding away to their bedroom to get dressed.

Goh follows, and huffs in annoyance when he notices the light doesn’t turn off as he flicks the switch. He leaves anyways. _Not haunted,_ he thinks again.

It’s just an old, fancy and ridiculous house with faulty lights. And cold spots…and sometimes it feels as though it’s _whispering._

But definitely _not_ haunted.

**[April 15th, 13:14, Fairchild Island]**

_No. 27 — How fast can Tauros run, depending on their variant environments of the islands?_

Of course, to find out, you first need to set them off.

“Nope,” declares Ash, hands up in surrender. “I’ve got enough with the ones in Pallet. Good luck with this one.”

He’s _just survived_ the Shamouti quest for the second time in his life (which is once more than the necessary times, if anyone asks). And he’s definitely not eager to jump into life-threatening situations less than a week later, thank you very much.

He ends up running away from from a giant Pidgeot most of the afternoon, and when he meets Goh back at the shore that evening, he carefully picks branches and leaves from his boyfriend’s hair and clothes, while Goh plucks feathers from his hair in return, and dutifully doesn’t question why the trainer is drenched.

They tick the quest off the list, and never speak of it.

**[March 30th, 17:24, Rind Island]**

“It’s said that some of them can even evolve into red Gyarados!” Muses Goh, as they prepare a camp near the shore. It’ll only be a couple of nights, but Goh wants to be close enough that they don’t miss a moment of the action.

Rind Island is famous for its Magikarp migrations, and for being the ground where large Magikarp banks come to evolve, a yearly ritual that returns hundreds of new Gyarados to the seas.

Ash smiles at his partner’s enthusiasm, though something pulls uncomfortably inside him at the mention of red Gyarados. Something he’d rather not think about at all, but that escapes on a whim and roams free and unauthorized.

A locked box opens and reveals the memories of a Magikarp, of playing in a stream near his childhood home in Pallet-town in the Summer afternoons. They’re foggy recollections, and Ash is sure that it couldn’t have been _that_ important, but he was only four, and these are the things his mind chooses to remember of that time.

A while later Magikarp evolved, and in its place there now was a monumental Gyarados. A _red_ Gyarados.

“Professor Oak says Gyarados are blue!”

Ash remembers saying this, but even more clearly he remembers the words he got in response, the confidence oozing from the man who said them.

“The common ones are. But this one is special.”  
  
That word was still new. “Special?”

“One of a kind.” Oh. “This one, Ash, is the strongest Gyarados in the world.”

_Oh!_

Ash never got to see a demonstration of that strength, for Gyarados was only ever careful and playful around him. It would wag its tail on the water, creating waves that would entertain him for hours, until his mother would come looking for them as the sun began to set, saying that dinner would be cold and that _you shouldn’t let him stay in the water for so long, Grey._

But Ash _wanted_ to stay in the water, he wanted to keep playing with Gyarados, and swim in the stream until his skin turned to prunes.

He just wanted to spend more time with his dad, even when he ignored — back then — that said time was ticking down.

Of course, Ash doesn’t remember the last day they went down to the stream, doesn’t remember if anything particularly eventful happened, doesn’t remember if his mom had come down to fetch them, or if they’d left on their own and he’d ridden atop of Grey’s shoulders on the way back, as he often liked to do.

He doesn’t even remember when was the last time he _saw_ Grey’s red Gyarados, but its picture is mostly clean in Ash’s clouded memories: tall as a building, bright red and angry looking — but _gentle,_ Ash always recalls them gentle — with an unusual slit scarring over its right eye, as if it’d been hurt at some point.

But Ash can’t remember if he’d even seen Magikarp injured. If it’d gotten that scar before or after its evolution.

It’s not like it matters. It’s not like Ash could do anything about it then, or now. And he doesn’t understand why it’s only when a red Gyarados is mentioned that these memories begin to flood. There were other Pokémon — There was even a _Riolu, for goodness’ sake —_ but it’s only ever Gyarados the one who triggers this stuff in his mind.

Maybe something about its color. Its uniqueness.

_Ah, don’t be stupid, Ash,_ he recriminates himself. Loads of people have red Gyarados.

They’re rare, not mythical.

“I wonder if there are giant Magikarp here as well.” Goh’s already completed the evolutionary line for Magikarp, so Ash knows that this is mere curiosity, and not some hidden wish to capture one of these migrating Pokémon.

He rambles on for a bit, about how their migration patterns have changed a bit in the last years, but it’s still mostly on the months of March and April. Ash half-listens, half-tries to shut down these stupid memories of red-Gyarados and Grey. But it isn’t working, and Goh’s excited rant begins to sound distant, even though they’re only working a handful of feet apart.

“…though it would be cool if I could catch a red Gyarados, right? That’d be awesome.”

Ash’s already weakened smile drops. “Ah… s-sure,” he offers, voice a little nervous. He turns to the tent in the hopes of distracting himself with it, so that Goh won’t repair on how affected he is right now.

But, alas, he’s already finished with the tent, and Goh is quickly approaching his side, all seaweed dinner-wraps and smiles.

Ash knows he’s in a large island, surrounded by infinite oceans, but he feels positively _trapped._

Helpfully, his mind presents him with this _new_ possibility, of ared Gyarados at the Cerise Park. A red Gyarados in their home. A red Gyarados traveling with Goh and battling with them. A red Gyarados who is strong and tall as a building. A constant reminder of — is it…why is so hard to breath, all of a sudden?

“Do you want some soy-sauce with yours? I think we have the — um, Ash?”

If Goh was oblivious before, he realizes there’s something wrong _the moment_ Ash jumps away from his hand, that had innocently reached out to get a hold of Ash’s attention.

Ash never rejects Goh’s contact. He _seeks_ it. Craves it, even. It’s a clear, loud red-flag the way he’s just pulled away, panicked and looking as if he’d been burned.

Goh’s entire demeanor changes, and he puts the food aside to fully address his partner, blue eyes turning serious and worried, but looking at Ash with gentleness, something open that says _I won’t hurt you._

As if that was something Goh ever had to make clear.

Ash shakes his head, instantly regretting his reaction, feeling guilt on top the cocktail of emotions that has simmered inside him. He tries to swallow down, only to realize his entire mouth feels like sandpaper. “I’m — ” not good, his voice has turned to messy gravel. “I’m — _Goh._ ”

Goh reaches out again on instinct, but pulls his hand back when he remembers what’s just happened.

He tries to meet his boyfriend’s eyes instead. “Ash, what’s wrong?” But Ash shakes his head, unsure and choked, as if he couldn’t breath, his eyes welling up with unshed tears. Goh thinks he’s actually choking on something, until he notices how he’s trembling as well.

And then it clicks.

Goh only remembers one other time when Ash had one of these. And it feels as though it was eons ago, though it’s something more like two or so years, when Lance had challenged him to the Elite-four Kanto trials.

That time, Ash trained twelve weeks straight in preparation for the battles. When the week of the event arrived, he’d been running on fumes for so long that he broke down the moment he lost a trial match against Lorelei.

(It wasn’t the fairest match, because Lorelei had the type advantage versus Ash’s roaster. It wasn’t a big deal, either; Ash had beaten Lorelei a few times already, and lost to her a handful of times as well. They knew each other well in battle, and got along great outside of the arena).

But Ash’s mind wasn’t thinking of that. He lost the match, and ran through the motions of meeting his opponent and saying thanks. Then he retired to his bedroom at the Indigo Plateau, and proceeded to crumble into Goh’s surprised arms.

He was too stressed, too caught up in his head, and too nervous, because _if I don’t make it through these then what’s the point? I should be good enough, I should be better, Goh. I have to be better. Leon won’t battle with me again if I don’t win. And Lance! Lance asked for me to do this. I can’t let him down. I can’t…_

Ash won.

He beat Lance by an inch, but he won fair and square and this would now be the second year he represents the Kanto region as part of the Elite-four. A dream within a dream come true.

But that episode exists as a reminder to Goh that, while Ash might look invincible, he’s just as human as the rest of them. Extraordinary. Out-of-this-world and better than anyone. But still: human.

That time it was a consequence of something grander. He was exhausted and had been working himself too hard for far too long. And Goh is forever glad he’d made the journey from Alola to Kanto that week, because he didn’t want to imagine Ash having to go through that experience alone.

And even so, there was only so much he could do. Simply holding Ash through the night and listening, just being there for him.

What he _did_ do must have helped some, for Ash didn’t stop thanking him profusely the remaining of that week. Kissed him proudly and with a grin splitting his dusty face the moment he stepped off the arena.

Back then, and right this moment, Goh raises to his role, and stands by Ash’s side through whatever it is that’s happening right now.

“Ash, look at me, please. Breath with me,” he instructs, taking a deep breath and holding it, until he sees Ash try to breath in as well. He breaths out slowly. “Okay, good,” Goh encourages, when he sees Ash mimic his action.

A worried Pikachu rushes to them, concerned about his trainer’s well-being. Goh calls him to jump onto his shoulder and face Ash as well, invites him to run through the breathing exercise with them.

Pikachu helps, and his puffy noises as he breaths help ground Ash some more, even making a giggle escape at the funny faces he’s inadvertently pulling.

Goh feels as though he can breath again, too.

“All right,” Goh says as he exhales, relief easing the tightness that has formed in his chest. “Ash, look at me. Can you talk?” He asks, his hands itch to pull him close, but he doesn’t want to risk setting him off again.

Ash offers a shaky nod. “I’m — ” his voice sounds dry, so he clears his throat and tries again. “I’m sorr—”

“ _Do not_ apologize,” cuts Goh, and it’s perhaps an intone too serious and not what Ash needs, but Goh refuses to bulge on this matter.

Ash understands, and nods again as he rectifies. “I’m all right.” _Well, that’s a blatant lie._ “I mean — I’m…I feel better now. I can — can breath. I’m all right.”

_I can talk about it._

Goh insists he doesn’t have to. All he wants is to know what happened, if it’s something _he_ did or said.

He’s walking through uncharted territory, but he knows enough as to respect boundaries, and stay away if that’s what Ash wants. If it’s what he needs.

But Ash is — blessedly — not the type to curl into himself when in distress.

He practically jumps into Goh’s arms the moment the other man offers proximity again, and apologizes for startling Goh out of the blue.

_I said don’t apologize. Well, I scared you! I’m sorry about that._

They forgo dinner, but Goh prepares some tea and proposes they talk it out inside their tent, the sun has already set, and it’s getting colder and colder by the shore. Pikachu melts into their messy blanket fort, and Ash pets his head as he tries to explain.

Goh holds him to his chest and says nothing. He reckons if he suddenly travelled fifteen-years in the past at the mention of a rare-Pokémon, he too would be feeling _something._

He should’ve known. Aside from working himself too hard, there’s only one other thing that could possibly set off Ash this way.

But it’s something so…Goh has so very little to go with, when it comes to Grey. And every time he’s heard of the man it’s been something similar to this, Ash opening up because it’s eating him from the inside out. It’s sad and painful, something that he simply needs to get out of system.

Even the brighter recollections of _I loved going to that stream and playing in the water_ are laced with painful nostalgia, not fond longing, but actual _hurt. Q_ uestions rising from the simple memories, things neither of them can answer, that only add to Ash’s sorrow.

This is why Goh doesn’t push, why he doesn’t ask many question, doesn’t force Ash to say more. Because it’s hard enough as it is. Because these are the only times, the only conversations they have in which the glint is gone from Ash’s eyes, and that positively breaks Goh’s heart. All he want, in these moments, is to make that numb pain disappear, to do _something_ and _solve this._

But he can’t. Ash can’t. And it’s the same conclusion every-time but it doesn’t get any easier to accept it. So he does what he _can,_ and hold Ash through the night, reassures him and listens and smothers him with as much affection as Ash wants to receive, and they fall asleep on better spirits, but with dampening heaviness still lingering until dawn.

The next day, over breakfast, Goh promises he won’t try to catch a red Gyarados. He can go without it.

But Ash insists that he _should_ catch it _._ Goh clearly wants it, and he shouldn’t hold himself back just for Ash’s sake.

_I’m being stupid, Goh,_ and he continues before Goh can angrily tell him not to belittle himself, _loads of people have red Gyarados. Lance has one! And it’s never upset me that he does! Seriously, I want you to get one._

In the end, it’s Goh’s Poke-ball and — mostly — Goh’s battle, but it’s practically Ash the one who orchestrates it, even calling a couple of Vaporeon’s moves, cornering Gyarados against the waterfall for just long enough that Ash can throw the Poke-ball to Goh’s hands.

“Good battle,” Ash compliments afterwards, smiling sunnily and proud.

He’s visibly calmer, and his eyes are back to bright and beautiful, but Goh knows better than to assume he’s fully back to his usual self. “Yeah, thanks for helping me,” replies the researcher, trying very hard not to _fuss._ Ash would tell him if he were still terribly upset. It would be obvious.

It works differently when Grey is concerned. Usually open and willing to talk about his feelings, it’s not hard to get around an argument or a low-day with Ash, he gathers his thoughts and shares and they figure out a solution. It works for training, battles, insecurities, and the mindless tiffs they get into as a couple. It works in the counted arguments he’s had with his other friends as well, and in the occasions where they find themselves in some grand scheme that could change the course of the world.

But with Grey… if it’s too much to deal with — like last night —Ash will talk of how he’s feeling with a small, pained voice, he’ll get it out of his system and finish with something along the lines of _but what can I do_ or _it’s not like it matters anyways…_ then he’ll lock the whole thing under a straitjacket and push it far and away in the unexplored corners of his mind, until he’s convinced himself it’s over and things are back to normal again.

It’s not… _healthy._ Goh knows. But it’s also too delicate a subject for him to prod at, It’s Ash’s most vulnerable, unhealed wound, and Goh refuses to breach it open just to sate his curiosity in a foolish attempt to help.

This isn’t something Goh can just _fix,_ and he certainly won’t poke at it when all it ever brings to Ash is pain.

So he takes in Ash’s reassurances and gratitudes for the support and locks it away as well. All the while a voice in his head tells him that it’ll come around someday. It will become too much to ignore, any-day now.

Just not today.

“The strongest one in the world, huh.” Goh catches Ash’s murmur, as he looks at the recently caught Gyarados swim in the lagoon beneath the waterfall, a few Magikarp splashing around it, Vaporeon soaking its tail, too, as the two familiarize with each other after their battle.

Goh extends a curious _hm?_ at the words, unsure of whether Ash had been talking to him, or simply mumbling to himself.

Ash gives Goh a side glance, debating between saying _never-mind,_ or telling the truth.

But this is Goh, and there’s no choice but the truth. “My…dad.” Used so seldom, that word always feels a bit alien on his lips. “He said his red Gyarados was the strongest in the world.”

_One of a kind._

Goh hums again, this time in understanding, remembering Ash’s stories from the night before. He trains his eyes on Gyarados too, on the way its tail makes waves for the small group of Magikarp, how it playfully pokes at Vaporeon’s bubbles.

Tall as a building, and strong, but _gentle,_ no scars over its right eye.

It’s a strange type of anger, the one Goh is feeling, a resentment towards at a man he’s never met, and for whom he should hold no ill. And yet.

It feels personal, somehow.

And _this,_ this he can do something about. He puts a hand to Ash’s shoulder, and squeezes hard as he promises: “Ours will be even stronger.”

Ash’s huffy, almost snide smirk is the only reply Goh needs.

**[April 4th, 10:32, Tangelo Island, the large house with no bathtub (but _okay_ showers), and a balcony]**

Goh scratches his head confusedly, looking around the office-room with narrowed-eyes. “I swear I just had it,” he murmurs, lifting his laptop and looking underneath again.

He’d gone down to the kitchen for a refill on his water bottle, and when he returned to the office — not even three minutes later — the folder with their report of the last month had suddenly disappeared. Gone. Vanished on thin air.

He traces his steps back to the kitchen, in the unlikely chance that he’d taken the papers there with him in some sort of fever-dream.

This time he runs into Ash, Lucario and Cinderace, who are rummaging through the fridge, most-likely looking for a snack.

“Diced carrots in there, peanut butter in the pantry,” offers Goh, absentmindedly, now looking around the kitchen area for his vanishing folder.

Ash looks up from over the fridge’s door and smiles. “Thanks!” He says cheerily. Then repairs on his partner’s expression. “It’s something wrong, baby?”

Goh stops mumbling to himself, and looks up to Ash almost with surprise, as if only now he were realizing they were in the room. He gapes and shakes his head. “Not really? But — ” Well, he doesn’t even know — “I can’t find last month’s report,” he explains. “I printed it, and I’m _sure_ I left it upstairs, but then I came here for water and when I went back to the office it was just…gone.”

Ash matches his frown, crunching into a carrot and speaking with his mouth half-full. “Then why are you searching here?” Questions Ash.

Goh shrugs, shakes his head again. “I don’t know. I figured maybe I moved it and didn’t notice? It just — it disappeared”

And folders don’t just _disappear._

“Let’s just print a new one?” Suggests Ash, pragmatic as ever.

Why, _yes,_ that’s probably what Goh will end up doing anyways. But it’s still strange.

Ash hums thoughtfully, watching Cinderace and Lucario fight over the peanut butter jar. “Maybe it’s haunted after all,” says the trainer, skidding over to the isle counter, swatting their Pokémon away to police the snacks.

Goh rolls his eyes. “The house is not haunted, Ash.” Goh really wishes he could pack some more heat behind his words.

Ash shrugs, while he uses a spoon to take out a chunk of the peanut butter, smearing it over the carrot slices. “The lights keep acting funny,” he argues.

They do, they go on-and-off and sometimes blink in odd intervals, as if trying to send a message.

“That’s not — ”

“We couldn’t open the balcony’s door the other day,” reminds Ash.

Goh blusters. “It was _jammed.”_

Though they still don’t know _what_ had jammed it in the first place, and later it flung open so easily Ash went flying straight into the railway, almost falling off the side of the house.

“… _and_ you’ve got disappearing folders now,” continues Ash.

The blue-eyed-man gapes for an answer, something smart, like _the lights are old,_ or, _the door got stuck because that mechanism isn’t good,_ or…or…well, he still doesn’t know what to say of the folders.

In the end he resolves in a weak, much winded: “Is not haunted…”

And if it is, Goh knows he’ll never hear the end of it. So it better _isn’t._

Ash shrugs again, dismissing the whole thing in the benefit of distributing the carrots and peanut-butter to their companions, that have begun fighting for the jar held over Ash’s head now.

“Well,” sighs Ash, dramatic and annoying, “if you say so…” _so annoying._ “I’ll go print that report again.” He informs, which makes Goh feel a little guilty about his thoughts, because that’s actually very nice of him.

Then he’s walking up to Goh, brushing a kiss to the side of his head, which is _sweet,_ and sticking a carrot-chunk into his mouth, which is…uh…all right?

He chews on the sweetened carrot and feels his annoyance disappear. Towards Ash. He’s still upset about his missing paperwork.

“Don’t let them eat all of it,” calls Ash as he leaves the kitchen.

He means Lucario and Cinderace, who are back to wrestling over the peanut butter jar.

Goh’s glad Ash has left the room, because suddenly, and as if supporting the trainer’s argument, the kitchen lights begin to blister on-and-off again.

Cinderace and Lucario stop their bickering to watch them waver with distracted amusement, and look back to Goh with a curious _what do you say to that?_

Goh _sulks._ “Oh, shut up,” he chews, petulantly.

_Not haunted,_ he decides, and he stays there in the kitchen, throwing daggers to the lamp above their heads, until well-after the flickering subsides.

**[May 17th, 16:32, Pummelo Island, Palace of Victory]**

Ash has a hard time recognizing the kid with a peace sign in one hand, holding his cherished Orange League trophy with the other. Just like in the picture, Pikachu is perched atop his hat right now, looking at the portrait and their hand-prints behind the glass.

Their hand-prints. His tiny, chubby hand immortalized in that rock. Ash darts his available hand out to compare, which is silly, he knows, but he can’t help but wander a bit in the way they are so different.

His hands are larger now — _obviously —_ but they’re also rougher, better trained, less-clumsy. They’re experienced, and have hints of faded scars he’s collected in the last decade. The same can be said for the rest of his body. For all of himself.

His eyes scan the picture again and, other than the pang of pained longing he feels at seeing Lapras, Ash can’t say there’s anything other than pride in his heart right now.

Pride for his team, and the battle they’d given that day. Pride for the journey that took them there in the first place, the challenges, the islands, and the seas they crossed. Pride at the memories shared with Misty and Tracey and his Pokémon at the time, for how much they grew over the weeks spent in this mystical region.

He reserves a little pride for himself, but more than for the man he is today, Ash feels pride for the boy that won that League so many years ago. He looks at the picture, at this glimpse and mirror to the past, and quietly wonders if that little boy would be proud of the person he’s become.

He hopes so.

Ash is a little gone admiring the prints again, when he feels the warmth of Goh’s kiss to his cheek. “I’m so proud of you,” he says, soft and quiet, a little tired perhaps from the quest they’ve just completed.

Ash smiles, because that’s always kind to hear. Still, “for a championship I won nine years ago?” He asks, a little teasingly. They hadn’t even met back then, far from it, and Ash was but an amateur when he’d challenged the Orange League.

None of that matters to Goh, apparently, for he nods assuringly all the same. “Yeah,” he says, shrugging his indifference to Ash’s counter-arguments. “I’m just proud of you.”

_He would be proud,_ realizes Ash. Ten year old him _would be_ proud to see the way he’s grown, how he became someone stronger, dependable, someone who has so many friends who care for him, and want to see him succeed.

“Thank you,” says Ash. Then: “I want you to be—proud of me, I mean.” More than anything. More than _anyone_ — “ I want to make you proud.”

Ash can go without the world clamoring his name, he can do without the world’s recognition and, much as he loves them, he thinks he _could do_ without the medals and the trophies.

At the end of the day, that’s not what being a Pokémon master is about, that’s become the way of the journey, but it’s not his end goal.

If not the world, if not the stadiums, the arenas and the eternal challengers, Ash thinks the only attention he needs to make this a worthwhile adventure is the one he gets from his Pokémon, from his friends and his family.

From Goh.

He wants to make ten-year-old Ash _so_ proud. He wants for his mother to keep mortifying him with the frames and the polished trophies and the pictures she brings home every-time he wins something, until the shelves in their little family home become impossibly crowded with his ribbons and recognitions.

He wants for Professor Oak to keep showing off his Pokémon at the lab, to show the children who visit, these young, aspiring trainers his picture and say, _one day, you too can be like Ash! Come meet his Snorlax now…_

He wants to make his friends and rivals _proud_ to call themselves his friends and rivals. And he wants for every-last-one of his Pokémon (present or former) to think of Ash and have good memories of their time spent together, to look forward to the times to come.

And Goh… he _needs_ for Goh to be proud to call himself Ash’s best friend. His research-fellow. His lover. His partner.

And one day something-else, something _more._

It’s not the world, but it’s still a mighty list of people Ash doesn’t want to let down. Himself included. And sometimes it can be —

_“_ You do,” comforts Goh, replying to Ash’s words from a moment ago, “you make me proud every-day.” He squeezes their joint hands together, and Ash squeezes back just as Pikachu jumps from the top of his head to Goh’s opposite shoulder, leaning forward to catch a better look of the hand-prints.

It’s getting a little cold in this room, and Goh doesn’t forget how closing-time is nearing, but there’s still something he wants for Ash to hear before they leave. Something he’s been meaning to say for weeks. “And you’ll make me proud again, when you win the qualifiers this year,” he states, voice still soft, this time laced with something more serious.

Ash breaths out, overwhelmed.

It’s been a long minute since the anticipation for a battle has bothered him so much. Then again, it’s been a long minute since something as big as the highest training-class in the world has been at stake.

He’s not surprised that Goh noticed his anxiety, but he _did_ think he’d been a little better at hiding his unease. “I’ll try to,” he promises. It feels like the least he can do, given how unsure he actually feels.

“You will,” corrects Goh, and just like in the lab the other day, his voice leaves no room for questioning.

So Ash doesn’t fight him any further, just says _thank you_ again, and trusts that Goh knows something he doesn’t. Trusts that, for the following months until the day of his battles, he will keep training and honing his abilities with the same discipline that has taken him this far. Trust that he can go even-further than this, push himself a little harder, a little more, so that he can, too, be as certain as Goh of his future victory.

So that he can make ten-year-old Ash proud, and show him how his decade-older counterpart has still got what it takes to win a championship.

And so that Pikachu — now dangerously teetering on Goh’s outstretched arm to look at their picture for the millionth time — thinks of Ash as a worthy companion as well. So they can keep battling and becoming masters of their art, together.

**[April 20th, 22:52, Tangelo Island, the large house with no bathtubs and a balcony (but _okay_ showers)]**

“Are you liking it?” Goh asks, pressing a kiss to Ash’s bare shoulder, and resting his head to it a moment later to peer into the pages of the book the trainer has been reading for the last hour (and most of the past week).

Ash replies with a gentle _mmhm,_ “it’s so good,” he says, “I recognize some of the names, but a lot of them I hadn’t heard of,” turning a page, Ash smiles when he realizes he’s reached a new chapter. “They were all so awesome, though. Did you know there was a fighting-type champion who retired for five years to train in the mountains? And…get this — she did a silent vow! Five years, in complete silence with her Pokémon! Isn’t that crazy?”

Goh has seen Ash jump in the middle of life-threatening situations more times than he’s comfortable with remembering without as much as a moment’s hesitation, all to protect a defenseless Pokémon or person. But, of course, the idea of being quiet for longer than a minute is where his partner draws the line of ludicrous.

“It’s sounds very difficult, actually.” Is what Goh replies, and if it comes a little slurred it’s not because he’s uninterested, but a side glance to the clock on Ash’s bedside table informs him it’s gotten late. “How did the silence help her training?” He asks, disguising a yawn.

Ash follows his gaze and sees the time as well. Grabbing his bookmark from the bedside table, he snaps the book shut as he replies. “Something about connecting with the Pokémon through energy and signs — er, something to do with movement as well, rather than words.” He thinks he gets the gist of it, because sometimes him and Lucario will go into these… _states_ in which they are truly connected, don’t need words to communicate. It’s not dissimilar to the way he feels with Pikachu in battle, or the spark of connection he had with Greninja.

Ash sighs, deciding it’s best not to take the melancholy lane right now; Goh grunts quietly into his shoulder and reels him back to the moment, and Ash looks down only to realize his blue-eyes have closed, and he’s already teetering the line of unconsciousness.

The trainer chuckles. “Let’s get some sleep, baby.” Goh agrees, but doesn’t make any effort to move, and Ash has to nudge his face by moving his shoulder to get his attention again. “…we need to turn off the lights?” He hints.

Goh grunts again, this time in protest, breaching his eyes open with the ghost of a pout, but he reaches forward a lazy hand anyways, and he yawns as he counts, “1…2…3…”

Ash draws scissors, and Goh — who was going for the lowest-effort-option — presents a _barely-_ balled fist.

“Agh,” complains Ash, dreading the distance between the bed and the light-switch. Goh grins, a self-satisfied little _ha!_ Implied there. Ash only enjoys his next jibe a little too much. “Well, you have to move first,” he reminds, and Goh grunts a third time, in tired disappointment.

He drops a kiss to Goh’s forehead as he gently moves him aside, back resting to the bed’s headboard. He’s halfway through getting out of the bed when, suddenly, all the lights go out on their own.

They blink at the sudden darkness for a moment, Ash looking up to the lamp, bemusing a curious _oh?_ while Goh startles back awake, fishes for either of their phones to turn on a flashlight.

“A power outage?” Wonders Ash, faces meeting over the white light of Goh’s phone.

The researcher shakes his head. “Air-con is still on,” he notices. The lights on the front-porch seem to be working as well. It might just be that the lightbulb in their room went out.

“It’s that fancy lamp, though,” comments the trainer, eyes casting back up, “might be hard to switch it out…” And they will probably have to wait until the next morning, too, so they can have some natural light to work with.

“I think we have like…an utilities closet.” Which is another ridiculous thing about this house, in Goh’s humble opinion. “There’s probably lightbulbs and tools in the—”

  
Ah, the light has come back on.

Goh blinks again, re-adjusting to the lamp, turning to Ash with a questioning frown.

His boyfriend shrugs. “I don’t know,” he says, equally confounded. “Ah, do you think it’s the — ”

“No.” Cuts Goh, deciding they’re not having this discussion right now. Ash, of course, _pouts._ “It’s _not,_ Ash. Let’s just be glad the light is fine, and forget about it.” Ash’s pout intensifies, and a good ten seconds pass without either of them saying anything else.

Goh gives his partner an unimpressed look. “ _Ash._ ”

And Ash _groans,_ but stands up to flick off the switch once and for all. Returning to the bed at lightning speed.

“I’m just saying —”

Goh groans, grabbing his pillow from under his head, and flying it straight to his boyfriend’s face, with high hopes of smothering him on the first try.

Alas, Ash pushes the pillow aside with little effort. “I’m _just saying,”_ he repeats, “the lights go on and off all the time — ”

“ Not _all_ the time — ”

“ _All the time,”_ barrels Ash, “and you keep saying it’s cold in some spots.” It is! The pantry could well be a freezer. And whatever it is that _screeches_ in the laundry room has been making Goh consider using a Laundromat.“Plus, we keep losing stuff!”

“That’s because you leave it around,” sighs Goh, resigned to having this discussion after all. “It always shows up anyways.”

  
Goh doesn’t need to see it, he _hears_ the pout. “Yeah, but — but it’s not where we leave it!” Ash argues back, “my left glove the other day? I _know_ it was in the kitchen.” _Why…_ no, no. Goh doesn’t need to know. “…disappeared, and came back three days later in the guest-room downstairs! How do you explain that?” He huffs.

Goh turns to face him, a patient hand coming up to pat Ash’s cheek (and if it is a little too strong to be a gentle caress, well that’s just too bad). “The Pokémon could’ve taken it,” he offers, though it sounds wrong to his own ears.

“ _Yeah,_ a _ghost_ Pokémon,” quips Ash, stubborn.

“Not a ghost-type Pokémon,” replies Goh, sighing again, his hand winding up in a caress in the end.

“Your folder went missing as well,” reminds the trainer, over a sleepy yawn as he leans into the touch.

Goh still doesn’t have an explanation for that one. Much like Ash’s glove, his report folder magically appeared in the t.v. room some days later, when it was no longer needed, and in a place where it had no reason to be in to begin with.

“It turned up eventually,” he replies anyways, because this is a battle he’s not letting up. Ash huffs, which is his sleepy way of calling Goh a stubborn idiot. So Goh shots right back: “I’m telling you, there are no ghost-Poké— ” he flinches as a smashing noise cuts the distance from the ground floor, and his blue eyes meet the twin surprised ones of his partner, that are glinting with weariness, but also an impossible note of _I-told-you-so._

Goh pushes his face away and sits up, hand blindly reaching out for his phone again. “It’s probably just Cinderace,” he says, even when Ash hasn’t made any questions.

“Or a ghost-ty — ” Goh smacks a hand to his mouth to shut him up, and, disgruntled, Ash moves to pull at his arm.

“No, wait. Shh!” The banging noise strikes again. “Did you hear that?” With widened eyes —and Goh’s hand still over his mouth — Ash gives a firm nod.

“It’s downstairs?” Asks Ash, moving Goh’s hand away, much gentler and slower than he’d originally planned.

The researcher confirms so with a nod of his own. “We better check what’s —” whatever it is, it’s terminally against them finishing their sentences, because the noise strikes a third time, and Goh isn’t done registering the banging before, suddenly, there’s the sound of footsteps up the stairs and, moments later, a loud banging on their bedroom’s door.

Ash frowns. “ _That’s_ Cinderace.” Calling for them in what’s very clearly an alarmed manner.

The champion rushes to the door to let their friend in, who is wide-eyed, panting and utterly _terrified,_ Pikachu and Goh’s Vaporeon cradled in each of its arms, sporting equally frightened faces.

“Whoa, hey, hey. What happened? Are you all right?” Asks its trainer, getting out of the bed as well to look for any injuries.

Ash flicks the lights back on.

Yet they stay off.

“Great,” chews the trainer, turning the switch up and down with no luck.

“Maybe the bulb went out after all,” says Goh, half paying attention to Ash’s stand-off with the light-switch, more interested in guaranteeing their friend’s well-being. None of them seems to be hurt, just scared.

Which isn’t _good,_ but at least won’t require a midnight visit to the Pokémon Center.

Though by the way things are looking, they should probably head there to spend the night anyways.

“Cinderace, where is Lucario?” Questions Ash, when he notices it’s the only one absent from the group.

Eyes wider than before, the fire hare shakes its head, and weakly presents a pointer finger down.

“Did he break something?” Tries Goh. It’s not like Lucario loses its temper often. Not anymore. And he is generally good at measuring his strength in confined spaces.

But that would explain the banging, and if something broke, maybe Lucario is worried they will be upset, or maybe he’s simply embarrassed. That’d explain why it didn’t come up with the others. The rest of their small troop ran up because the banging got too loud.

Right. That’s a perfectly sound, plausible scenario. It’s realistic. Best part is that it’s solvable, too. And Goh wishes he could be proud of himself for coming up with such sensical analysis.

He also wishes his head wasn’t dwarfing those brilliant theories with the constant screaming of _ghost._

Ash clicks his tongue somewhere near them. “This is stupid,” he says, “I’ll go find Lucario, it’s better if they just stay with us tonight.”

“Wait!” Calls Goh, more panicky than he meant to sound.

Ash turns to him.“What for?” He sounds a little exasperated, and Goh belatedly realizes that he’s probably tired, they both are. They should wrap this up and get some rest.

“I…don’t know. Just — I’ll come with you,” he offers, lamely.

Ash shakes his head. “Stay with _them._ They obviously don’t want to be alone right now.”

Neither does Goh, hence his silly suggestions. But Ash is right, Cinderace had sprinted up here in a clear call for help and comfort, and it’d be poor of Goh as a trainer not to give them that right now.

So he nods his head and prompts Ash to leave, while Goh calls their friends into the bed, leaves the light on so they can see there’s no reason to be afraid.

Ash pads his way downstairs, armed only with his phone’s flashlight. He’s not really scared of what might be down there — he’s had Gengar around for a minute, he’s used to Pokémon jumping from the walls out of the blue —, if he’s perfectly honest, he simply wants to get Lucario, bring him upstairs, and go to sleep, they have a long-enough day tomorrow as it is, and he doesn’t feel like adding a sleepless night to the mix.

_If_ whatever it is that’s haunting the house decides to show, well…he’ll battle it and call Goh to throw a poke-ball at it; he’s entertained with this little fantasy when he finally finds Lucario, in the main living room and staring straight and angrily at…

Nothing.

Well, _the wall,_ but there’s nothing on it.

Nothing Ash can see, at least.

But there must be _something_ on it, because Lucario looks positively ready to strike —

“Hey, wait!” Halts Ash, and it’s a testament of the years they’ve spent battling together, because Lucario, hot-blooded and instinct-driven, _listens,_ and stops at once at its trainer’s command.

Ash worries his lip in his teeth, he kind-of-wishes his aura stuff would magically surge right now. That way, he could maybe feel what Lucario is sensing as well. That way, he could’ve — maybe — figured out if there’s really a Pokémon wandering around the house. And that way he could finally win this silly feud with Goh.

“No aura-spheres inside the house,” Ash reminds, as he comes next to Lucario to place a hand on its shoulder. “Is there something there?” He questions, pointing to the wall.

Lucario whines and nods, pointing in the exact direction where he can feel the odd energy.

Then he turns to the side, and rushes to the opposite wall at full speed, now laser-focused on a new spot.

Ash sees this happen twice more before he realizes the pattern, and from there is no hard to connect what he racket had been about, or to put together why the fancy couch’s cushions are all over the room, or why the pretty lamp Ash’s been careful not to trip over is now smashed in pieces next to the coffee-table.

_It_ must be driving Lucario mad.

“I don’t think it’s going to come out, bud,” says Ash to a grumbling Lucario, both paws pressed to the wall and likely moving with the energy’s own shifts. “Why don’t we go upstairs? You guys can sleep with us tonight.” Ash doesn’t really want to _have_ to call Lucario into its poke-ball, but he might after all, if his friend doesn’t relent on his pointless chase. “Pikachu is up there, with Vaporeon and Goh,” he continues, knowing that, if anything has a chance to make Lucario stop acting up, it will be his next line, “Cinderace, too. And they’re really scared, you know, could really use a friend right now.”

Lucario stops pawing at the wall, and turns to Ash with a small frown and a resigned huff, nodding its understanding. Ash smiles, and nods for him to go ahead.

As he sees Lucario pace upstairs, Ash turns and gives one last glance to the upside-down living-room. They’ll take care of the mess in the morning, it’s fine, right now it’s best if they just get some slee—

Something moves.

Ash catches it with the corner of his eye, but he’s certain it wasn’t a trick of his vision. Small, dark…er…like a shadow?

Goh, of course, doesn’t buy it, and throws a pillow to Ash’s face upon his return to the bedroom, not very appreciative of Ash’s chanting of how he _just saw the haunting Pokémon in the living room!_

“I’ve spent the last ten minutes convincing these three that there are _no_ haunting Pokémon,” says Goh, forced calmness slipping. “Because there _aren’t._ Isn’t that right, Ash?”

Nothing could ever be scarier than Goh’s forced, very dangerous smile.

“R-right.” He stammers, and schools his features as he addresses their friends, Lucario now having joined their bundle in the the loveseat of their room. “Nothing haunting. It’s all good.” He promises.

They don’t look as though they believe it. But for the sake of this night they can all pretend.

A side-glance to the clock on his bedside table informs Ash they’ve just spent over thirty minutes in this charade. They’re going to be tired on the ferry to whatever-island tomorrow, and it’s best if they just pack this for now and go to sleep.

Ash picks up the pillow, and flicks the light off on his way back to the bed.

It stays on.

Ash winces at Goh’s annoyed groan, to which he replies with a patient, tired-sigh.

But he returns to the bed regardless, he’s _technically_ switched the light off. Which means that, eventually, it should do its thing and —

“ _Finally,”_ huffs Goh, beyond done with the flickering lights and the haunted house disaster act. He moves into Ash’s side and buries his face into his partner’s neck.

Ash pulls him in by the waist to keep him close. Murmuring a _goodnight_ to his hair.

Goh replies in kind, a string of tired complaints as he is _finally_ allowed to fall asleep for good. His filter gets really, terribly faulty when he’s sleepy, so Ash gets a front-seat to his slurred admissions of _it’s probably a ghost-type after all, Ash is right. Ugh, but he’s gonna be impossible if he’s right. So it better…no haunted._

Ash snickers quietly, wraps his other arm around Goh’s shoulders and practically melds their bodies together, whispering one last _definitely haunted_ to the ceiling, the faulty light from the fancy lamp flickering a bit still, if one were to look close enough.

**[April 25th, 10:20, Hamlin Island, Downtown Hamlin]**

The quest takes them to the larger island, but Ash’s appetite drives them to the smaller, most populated one first, a large list of shops and cafes to choose from for a mid-morning snack.

As they walk through the streets, Goh notices how his boyfriend is distracted (he’s just skipped past two onigiri shops, something’s definitely up).

Ash only sighs a little resignedly when Goh questions if something’s on his mind.

“We’re so close to Pallet,”Ash says, as if that was something to lament. “I kinda wish we could’ve seen my mom, is all.”

Ah, so that was it.

Goh’s own home-sickness has been getting better, they’ve kept the ‘let’s make a home out of here’ exercise going for some days now and it’s working great. They make more home-meals, and go on walks and to train in the nearby areas. It’s helping.

But Goh can understand why Ash would regret a missed opportunity to see their family.

It’s a good thing they didn’t miss it, then.

Goh represses his smile as he hears the noise of the ferry’s horn, announcing the arrival of the 10AM ship from Pallet to Hamlin, and he holds onto Ash’s hand a little tighter as he subtly waltzes them in the direction of the harbor.

When Goh feels his phone vibrate in his pocket, he finally puts Ash out of his sulking. “If only _someone_ had remembered to tell Delia about it,” he hints.

Ash’s pout returns. “ _Hey,_ I’ve been doing all the planning,” he defends. They haven’t missed any-more quests, and the scheduled calls with Chloe and Goh’s parents are working out well. But he was bound to miss _something._

He’s about to quip back, but when he looks up, Goh’s face doesn’t seem teasing, rather it’s just…happy. Open and cheery, the way Ash loves to see him.

He also looks like he’s plotting something.

Eyes narrowed, Ash hesitantly asks. “What did you do…?”

Goh opens his mouth to reply, but it’s cut short when Pikachu suddenly jumps off Ash’s shoulder, startling them both, sprinting and dodging people left and right, into the ready arms of —

“ _Mama?!_ ”

Delia catches Pikachu and holds him up, tickling him with playful fingers. She positively _beams_ when she looks back to a surprised Ash, and a delighted Goh.

“My dears!” She exclaims, closing the distance, Mr. Mime on her heels. “Oh, it’s so kind to see you!” Pikachu jumps back to Ash’s head as Delia pulls him for a hug, and Ash hugs back mostly moving on autopilot, still too stunned to properly react.

Then, after almost punching the air out of Ash, she moves to Goh, and traps him in an equally strong hold.

If Goh hugs back with a little desperation himself, nobody mentions it, and Delia is all too happy to let their embrace stretch beyond the strictly necessary time, smiles motherly and knowingly to the blue-eyed-man as they part, and only offers kind eyes to the way Goh blushes, embarrassed by his sudden outburst.

Ash blinks back to reality just in time to see his mom fuss over him. “Oh, baby, you’ve gotten so tan! Are you spending too much time under the sun?” She asks, a hand to Ash’s cheek, rubbing the skin there worriedly. “Are you using sunscreen? You know you have to reapply it every three to four hours, yeah? You better not be — ”

“ _Mama,”_ bemoans Ash, already mortified by her rant, as if she were talking to a child and not a nearly-twenty-year-old-champion in the middle of a busy street. “It’s _fine._ I’m fine. Stop embarrassing me.”

Goh chortles at their exchange, and fuels on Ash’s smile as he talks to Delia, feeling warm with her very presence.

She asks if they’ve eaten yet, and Ash’s stomach seems to remember they had been formerly looking for a snack. They catch up as they make their way to one of the onigiri shops, Delia lacing one of her hands with Goh’s, talking animately about her trip over, and how lovely the days have been lately in Pallet-town.

“The Spring is blooming beautifully, dear. You should come as soon as you’re done with the islands, for a weekend or so. Will you have some time off?”

They’ve agreed on three days off to settle back into the city, but Goh can already see how they’ll spend at least two of those making the trip to and from Ash’s hometown, as he’s never been able to say no to Delia.

So he promises they will, and Ash gives him a warning side-glance that Goh dutifully ignores, instead focusing on the way Delia lights-up at his words.

Ash has to admit is a pretty damn nice sight, too. And it makes him feel so good he quickly relents, and silently agrees to make the drive over to Pallet, probably as soon as they return to Vermillion.

It’s wonderful to see her, all cheery and healthy and Ash really wishes they could just spend the entire day like this, walking and eating and having a good time with her.

But there’s still a quest that needs to be completed.

“Oh, I won’t get in your way!” Says Delia, reassuring them that it’s fine they leave to work. “Mimey and I will stay around and do some shopping, I like the island vibe.” _She’s so great,_ thinks Ash, still over-the-moon at having her here. “I’ll find a few of those patterned shirts for Sam, I’m sure he’ll find them funny.”

Goh can’t imagine Professor Oak ever wearing something as colorful as the printed shirts Delia has just pointed to in a display-window, but he figures he would probably wear them, anyways, if so Delia wanted.

She does seem to know the odd power she has over people. Wields it quite well, too.

“We’ll meet you back for lunch,” Ash proposes, and Goh has half the mind to nod at the idea, just as Ash begins to pull him back in the direction of the main island. “See you in a few hours!” He calls, as Delia waves them farewell.

**[April 25th, 13:12, Hamlin Island, Hamlin Meadows]**

They count Electrode for two hours, each one takes a half of the meadow and saunters on their own until, eventually, and as if being pulled by an invisible force, they meet at the middle of the greener patch of the grass, where the electric-type Pokémon seem enjoy gathering in herds.

“Three-hundred and thirty…”

“Two-hundred and ninety-se…”

They bump shoulders as they pass each other, and, catching the other’s counting, turn their gazes up until their eyes lock. Amused blue to already glinting brown, easy grins that become full-on laughter a moment later.

Goh turns the mismatched numbers into an average, calling it an executive decision, and deciding they’re probably as good as done here, and that they’re ready to meet Delia back for lunch.

**[April 25th, 14:03, Hamlin Island, Downtown Hamlin, The Marina Cafe]**

Delia is already waiting for them at a painteresque restaurant by the port, she’s ordered them all iced-teas and some sizzling starters, and Ash chews on his gravy-topped bread as he tells her about what they’ve been up to since they last spoke.

“We think the house is haunted,” he says, recalling the previous week’s battle with the lights at midnight.

“ _You_ think the house is haunted,” corrects Goh, taking the bite Ash offers him, much more mannered than his messy partner.

Ash rolls his eyes. “You believe so, too.”

Delia raises a brow. “Oh? But that house you’re staying at is awfully nice, dear. I doubt such a pretty space could be haunted.”

“See!” Chants Goh, proud to have Delia side with him. “That’s what I keep telling you.” He turns to her, a tired, almost resigned sigh leaving him. “That’s what I keep telling him,” he tuts.

Ash rolls his eyes _again._ “You’re not giving her all the ‘available information’, _Professor Goh,”_ quips Ash, “it’s like this, Mama:…”

In the end, Delia turns impartial on the whole deal, humoring Ash on his ‘scientific’ analogy, and deciding that she simply doesn’t have enough evidence to go by. Goh makes valid, logical points of how _most_ things can be rationally explained (sans the damned missing folders, those still draw a blank), but Ash raises his number by arguing how Lucario keeps waking up (and even _breaking-out_ of its poke-ball) just to paw at the walls. And there’s definitely something up with that. _Sweet Lucario wouldn’t just act up out of the blue._

“Maybe it’s a rare, ghost-type Pokémon,” Delia suggests, as she ponders on it a while later. “Perhaps it’s just shy of showing up, just like your Gengar was, baby.”

That makes Ash think that it might be an abandoned Pokémon, and it hurts to think so but it only adds to his growing desire to solve this thing already, for he would really like to help it if it turns out they’re in trouble.

“If there was a Pokémon in that house, I would’ve caught it already.” Says Goh, all confidence and determination.

“Not if you don’t _believe_ in it,” shoots Ash, and Goh sticks another slice of pizza into his mouth just to shut him up.

Delia is glad to see her boys are doing well, and — dare she say —better than ever. Almost as if something in this trip were helping strengthen that lovely bond of theirs.

Well, love truly works some wonders.

They get ice cream afterwards, walking through the marina in a scene _so familiar,_ so warm, that it almost makes Goh feel as if they were on one of her day-visits to Vermillion.

It feels like home. A new, yet well-known version of it.

She says goodbye to them with a light-heart and a broad smile, holding Ash for long minutes, reminding him that she loves him, and making him swear on his championship trophies that they _will_ visit soon. His Pokémon, Sam, and _yes,_ even Gary, are looking forward to seeing them all again.

She hugs Goh for long minutes and then some, saying how wonderful it was to see him, thanking him for calling and getting her tickets, she also says _thank you for…you know_ with a happy, complicit wink that has Goh blushing, but nodding his head with shining eyes. _Always,_ he replies. it’s a promise he fulfills every-day. Proudly and forever.

She holds Pikachu the longest, and Ash is almost afraid she’s going to get on that boat with his companion still in arms, until Mr. Mime, its own arms full of shopping bags, hurriedly insist they _leave,_ or the ship will go without them.

They see her off on the 16:30 ferry from Hamlin Island to Pallet-town, waving her goodbye until she becomes but a tiny dot in the distance.

Ash waits until the boat has become indistinguishable in the horizon, then leans into Goh’s space to press a kiss to his temple.

“Thank you,” he murmurs, the smile palpable in his tone.

Goh finds his hand and twines their fingers together, his own smile brightening his face.

“Always,” he replies, repeating his words to Delia.

_I’ll take care of you, always._

**[May 21st, Tangelo Island, 15:32, the large house with no bathtubs and a balcony (but _okay_ showers)]**

“Goh! We’re gonna miss the plane!”

For all of his claimed hatred towards this house over the last three months, he sure is taking his sweet time saying goodbye to it.

Part of Ash is glad Goh’s come to accept this place enough that he’s even acknowledged it as _home_ on a few occasions (the weekend escapades to the local highlights might have helped, also the dessert-shop they discovered right on the outskirts of town).

But right now, _most_ of Ash really wants for Goh to hurry-the-fuck-up, they are cutting it too-close-for-comfort in their window to reach the airport.

Ash loves the Orange Archipelago, but he’s not exactly eager to miss the flight back home.

Goh, apparently, doesn’t share the same concern.

Since the house is thrice as large as their apartment back in Vermillion, Goh takes _thrice_ as long in his double-checking of the space. Appliances, beds, doors, windows, _each_ of the bathrooms —

Looking up nervously, Ash hopes that Goh will miss how the lamp above them has begun flickering, even though nobody’s switched it on.

Lucario darts its gaze up and whines lowly, eyes narrowing at the invisible force tinkering with their lighting system.

Ash sighs, because it’s been _weeks_ of this, and it’s kind of disappointing how they completed over thirty mysteries and quests across dozens of islands; and yet they haven’t been able to figure out what’s been happening in their home-base since day-one.

_It must be a ghost-type,_ keeps insisting Ash, even though he didn’t see anything after that weak shadow in the middle of the night that one time. It didn’t convince Goh, and Ash has to admit, even he has a hard time believing in it as substantial evidence.

But Ash doubts is just faulty lighting and random cold spots in a house this elegant. Besides, no house-related malfunctions justify the _disappearing_ stuff (he’s lost three left-gloves, one of their favorite shirts, and more paperwork than Goh is willing to admit).

“All right, all right. I’m ready!” calls Goh, meeting him and their small party at the front door.

“Finally,” chews Ash, a heartbeat too soon, for Goh _notices_ the flickering light, his eyes trained on it and nothing else. Ah, damn it. “Baby,” sighs the trainer, “let’s just go…”

“Did you turn that switch on?” Asks Goh instead, moving straight under the lamp.

“No, but — ”

“This one hadn’t done that before.” At least not that he’d seen. It’s always the ones in the kitchen, or the bathroom, or their room or — or _any_ room they happen to be in, actually, as far as he can remember. “What if it’s chasing us?”

“If _what_ is chasing us?” Questions Ash, looking up and down between Goh and the rebellious lights confusedly.

“The Pokémon,” says Goh, as if he were stating the obvious. “The Ghost-type, what if it’s been following us around all this time?”

Ash blinks, processing what he’s just heard. “So you _admit_ it’s a ghost-type?!”

Goh graces him with a pointed _look._

“Of course it’s a ghost-type Pokémon, Ash. It’s always been a ghost-type. What else could it be.”

“But — Goh — !”

“The question is _which_ ghost-type.” Continues Goh, paying no mind to Ash’s sputtering disbelief. A Misdreavus or Gastly are mischievous, but they would lack the discipline to keep a charade running this long.

He’s heard of Drifloon that hide in abandoned houses or cemeteries, but those usually keep to themselves and actually _avoid_ being noticed. Not to mention, this house is far from abandoned (and, as far as Goh knows, has never been a cemetery).

“Litwick or Lampent still wouldn’t explain the missing stuff…” considers Ash out-loud, now also caught into the mystery.

Goh hums. “ _What_ would? If it were a Rotom — ”

Ash shakes his head. “Our phones would’ve been able to perceive it.” He reminds.

Goh’s acceptance of it or not (and Ash _will_ pester him later, when they do figure it out), it seems as though they’re still running into dead-ends.

Until Lucario whines again, this time louder than he ever has towards the light. Next to him, Cinderace’s ears shoot up, alert and alarmed, also quietly growling up to the lamp.

Then the lamp _explodes,_ and Ash has half a second to push Goh out of the way, pressing them both to the wall, and covering their heads with his arms, glass raining down and _everywhere._

“ _What the fuc— ”_

_“_ Ash! Right there!” Pushing his shoulders, and seemingly unconcerned by the destroyed lamp carpeting the living room, Goh points to a tiny, shadowy figure standing next to the fancy-couch.

Ash does a double take, worried that the glass has impaired his vision. “Is that a —?”

“A Marshadow,” nods Goh, saying its name almost reverently.

He’s never seen one before. They’re the stuff of legends, these days. And he knows not many have had the privilege to meet one in the flesh.

Marshadow looks up to them, appearance threatening despite its height. It scans through all of them and fixates on Lucario, who stares back with equal intensity in its eyes, but seems to be positively held in place.

There’s a moment’s pause, the wall-clock ticking and going ignored, but once Goh is over his initial stupor at the realization that _yes! that’s a Marshadow!_ There’s really only one other thought in his mind.

“I have to catch it.”

Ash, who’d been anticipating those very words, takes several steps back and hopelessly asks Goh to _be careful with the glass._

Goh doesn’t mind the glass, but he beckons for Ash as well. “Ash, Ash, can I —er…Lucario?” His mind seems to be going a mile a second, but the trainer understands. By the way Lucario steps up to Goh’s side and nods its agreement, it seems he’s understood as well.

“Of course,” agrees Ash, unnecessarily, for Lucario has already assumed his battling position.

All previous petitions to be careful inside the house and avoid using full power fly out of the window, for the first attack Goh calls is a thunder punch, which Marshadow easily counters with one of their own.

Cinderace hides behind Ash, and Pikachu holds fiercely to its trainer’s head, both Pokémon fearful of the smaller ghost-type that has been haunting them for _months._

And that must be why Goh has called for Lucario to join him in this battle, he’s been the only one, out of all their friends, who’s never seemed afraid of any of the strange things that kept happening. Didn’t flinch nor falter, only groaned and angrily tried to draw out Marshadow himself.

If anything, they’ve been having this very battle for a while.

He’s the only who could perceive Marshadow so clearly, who could see its intentions and its mischief, but couldn’t prove it nor do anything other than chase after shadows. There must be some heavy pent-up frustration there, and this is Goh’s way to help alleviate some of that.

Still, they’re at a type-disadvantage, and Lucario can take hit-after-hit of force-palms, but they’re not winning this match on endurance alone.

But there’s something else they can use. “Goh! You know that attack we’ve been practicing? The one with Cinderace?” Hints Ash.

The blue-eyed-man frowns for a moment, _they train with Cinderace all the time — what does Ash — oh._

His face draws with realization, and he nods to Ash’s determined face.

_Yeah, that should do it._

“Lucario, use shadow punch!”

It costs them a couch cushion, _and_ the standing lamp they’d already had to replace weeks before, when Lucario has first smashed it, but Goh throws his poké-ball and it only swings round two times before the ever-satisfying, proud sound of a new-catch fills their ears, his phone calling the addition to Goh’s Pokédex moments later.

_Marshadow’s data will be added to the Pokédex._

There’s not a lot of data to get-going-with, as it is, but Goh already knows that he’ll spend the greater chunk of the next week changing that.

“Well,” breaths Ash, taking in the mess, quietly lamenting how they are probably going to miss their flight, after all. It must say something about him that he doesn’t care, and it’s instead too happy to congratulate Goh for his extraordinary catch. “That’s another mystery solved, I guess.”

Goh beams, and they could well miss every plane for an entire month, for all Ash cares right now.

**[May 21st, 23:59, Vermillion City]**

They cross the threshold to their apartment at half-past eleven, dropping their bags at the entrance, and letting their Pokémon roam around and recognize their home freely. Tired as they are, Pikachu and Cinderace crash into the small couch almost immediately, cuddling together and falling asleep without much further exploration.

Ash and Goh make a beeline for the shower, only taking half a moment to check on the place. It looks _fine,_ it’s dusty and dark and it smells like it’s been closed for three months, but all that is stuff they can deal with some other day, some other time.

For once, it’s Goh the one who guides Ash around in the shower. Their small, _tight_ shower that only allows for them to face each other, and requires some actual logistics if one were to turn around. But it’s a quick-shower anyways, and all they want is to take the plane-smell off, so Goh saves the acrobatics for another day, and soaps Ash’s shoulders with as much tenderness as someone falling asleep on their feet can muster.

They’re out in record time (for them, at least), and Goh helps Ash into a pair of boxer-briefs and a shirt (whose, he doesn’t care), fetching a similar choice of clothes for himself.

Much like their Pokémon some twenty-minutes ago, they crash into their bed and under the covers as soon as they make it to their room, familiar memory-foam welcoming them with what feels like the warmest of hugs.

Though that might also be the way Ash buries into Goh’s arms, nuzzling his neck and speaking in sleepy, slurred sentences.

“Hey, Goh?” He says, eyes closing, but tone playful.

“Hm?”

“Welcome home,” says Ash, burying deeper into the embrace.

Goh huffs out a chuckle. “Yeah,” he says, and then, just to humor his boyfriend, adds: “I’m home.”

Though, if he’s being completely honest, if feels as though he’s been there for a while.

In their apartment, the alarm clock is on Goh’s bedside table, so he hears more than he sees the hour change from 23:59 to 00:00, but he needn’t move from their tangle of limbs and warmth to understand that the hour has changed.

It’s a new day already.

A most important day.

With a kiss to Ash’s forehead, and murmuring into the skin as he speaks, Goh says: “Happy birthday, my love,”pulling his partner impossibly closer.

Ash melts into him, grinning, more sleep-than-awake at this point. Still, he giggles at the attention, and whispers back an equally gentle _thank you_ into the space between them.

Goh has a whole thing planned. Delia and Professor Oak are driving up to Vermillion, Misty is coming down from Cerulean, and he roped Chloe in birthday lunch party planning weeks ago.

They will go to Cerise Park and be with their Pokémon and friends, and Ash will have the greatest birthday ever. It’s going to be perfect.

But now, finally here — finally _home —_ Goh holds Ash and thinks of how all that can wait.

Right now, all he wants is to savor this little moment. This feeling of _rightness,_ of holding his home in his arms, over their memory foam in the walls of their tiny room, in their tiny apartment, in the large, sea-surrounded Vermillion.

He’s home. _They’re home._ And for now, for this moment that is his to keep, all that Goh wants is to stay with Ash just like this, to bask into his everlasting warmth.

And sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it. I — don’t even have the words, but I’m going to say thank you, for making it this far, and for giving this story a chance. it’s been a pleasure to write it, and from the bottom, the top, and every corner of my heart, i thank you. all the love x 
> 
> Final word count : 88,919.
> 
> the word ‘island’ was used : 146 times
> 
> the word ‘archipelago’ was used: 11 times 
> 
> total Islands visited : 16…I think.

**Author's Note:**

> I still love to chat in the comments! I still love your feedback and comments and kudos to the ends of the Earth! I'm still going to do my best to put a good story out there, and I kindly invite you to tune in for the ride x


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